Rudolf Buchbinder plays Brahms 1

All beginnings are difficult. Johannes Brahms had more trouble with his first piano concerto than with any other work. He originally wanted to write a sonata for two pianos in 1854, but then discovered that the music demanded an orchestration, so he tried to transform what was already there into a symphony. But he got nowhere with that either. Then, in 1856, he had a brilliant idea: it had to be a piano concerto. And what a concerto it was! A work of symphonic fullness and energy-sapping virtuosity that went beyond any dimensions he had been accustomed to. And at the same time, in the slow movement, music of infinite, inward-looking, almost vulnerable tenderness. - In contrast to the young Brahms, Dvořák was already a world-famous great when he received the honorable commission in New York in 1892 to give American folk music a solid foundation. So he set to work and composed a corresponding symphony. This was not difficult for him, as he had already completed eight of them. However, his ninth, the symphony "From the New World", did not really sound American, but rather Czech-Bohemian. Today it is considered the epitome of Czech national music and is probably Dvořák's most successful score worldwide.

One can have the best intentions, and yet things turn out differently: Dvořák wanted to write an exemplary work of American folk music with his symphony "from the New World", but the result is a unique hymn to his Czech-Bohemian homeland.

Luzerner Sinfonieorchester
Conductor: Michael Sanderling
Piano: Rudolf Buchbinder

Composers & Works
Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in D minor op. 15

Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904)
Symphony No. 9 in E minor op. 95 "From the New World"

Please note: The program and the artists performing are subject to change. The current program can be found on the website.