19:30 SUNDAY 1 OCTOBER 2023 , MÜPA BUDAPEST – BARTÓK BÉLA NATIONAL CONCERT HALL
AUDIO BROADCAST LINK HERE
Brahms: Academic Festive Overture, Op. 80
Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
(intermission)
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74
Conductor: Riccardo Frizza
Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Yunchan Lim (piano)
Riccardo Frizza conducts one composition from each of the like-minded towering composers of Romanticism, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Schumann. The popular piano concerto by the latter artist is performed with solo by the hugely talented Korean pianist Yunchan Lim. In 2022, the 18-year-old became the youngest ever artist to take gold at the Van Cliburn International Competition. Currently he is studying at the Korean National University of Arts yet his diary for several years ahead is already filled with engagements from the likes of the symphony orchestras of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston, Orchestre de Paris and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Following his Budapest concert, he debuts in Carnegie Hall in February 2024.
MAESTRO RICCARDO FRIZZA – OFFICIAL HOMEPAGE
YUNCHAN LIM – PIANO – OFFICIAL PAGE AT IMG ARTISTS
Academic Festival Overture, Op. 80, composed by Johannes Brahms on the occasion of his receiving an honorary doctorate of music from the University of Breslau (now the University of Wrocław in Wrocław, Poland). The work was composed in 1880 and first performed on January 4, 1881. No doubt the premiere was intended to be a solemn occasion. As an unspoken reciprocation of their award, the University of Breslau had anticipated that Brahms, one of the greatest living composers (albeit one who had not attended college), would write a suitable new work to be played at the award ceremony. There is little doubt that what he provided confounded his hosts’ expectations. Rather than composing some ceremonial equivalent of Pomp and Circumstance—a more standard response—Brahms crafted what he described as a “rollicking potpourri of student songs,” in this case mostly drinking songs. It is easy to imagine the amusement of the assembled students, as well as the somewhat less-amused reaction of the school dignitaries, to Brahms’s lighthearted caprice.
Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 54, three-movement concerto for piano by German composer Robert Schumann that premiered in Dresden on December 4, 1845. The work was written for—and premiered by— Clara Wieck Schumann, his wife, who was considered to be one of the great pianists of the day. An early version of this piece, a one-movement fantasy, premiered during a rehearsal of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra on August 13, 1841, with Clara as soloist and their friend Felix Mendelssohn conducting the ensemble. Four years later Robert expanded the piece to a full-fledged concerto. In the expansive first movement, “Allegro affettuoso,” based closely on the initial piano fantasy, a fiercely powerful opening theme is contrasted with a lyrical piano and clarinet duet, providing elegant contrast between the two divergent moods. The second movement, a sweet and songlike “Intermezzo,” resembles a scene of quiet domestic bliss. Without pause, the piece moves into the final movement, “Allegro vivace,” restating earlier themes and concluding with a vibrant finale.
Pathétique Symphony, byname of Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74, final composition by Peter Tchaikovsky. Called the “Passionate Symphony” by the composer, it was mistranslated into French after his death, earning the title by which it became henceforth known, Pathétique (meaning “evoking pity”). The symphony premiered on October 28, 1893, according to the modern calendar, though at the time Russia still used the old form, by which the date was October 16. It was the composer’s last work; nine days later, he was dead, and observers have long debated whether the often gloomy nature of the work reflected Tchaikovsky’s own emotional state at the time.
Substantially the longest of the symphony’s four movements, the opening Adagio – Allegro non troppo begins with a sober theme presented by solo bassoon and double basses; having started in the orchestra’s lowest range, Tchaikovsky ensures that listeners will grasp the gravitas that he seems to have in mind. Quicker tempos and stronger dynamics will follow, along with a gently rhapsodic string theme, though phrases borrowed from the Russian Orthodox requiem further reinforce the ominous nature of the music. The second movement Allegro con grazia is gracefully dance-like, though being in the irregularly used 5/4 meter, it deeply infuriated conservative observers, who apparently would have preferred something closer to a waltz. However, these pages of almost interrupted rapture serve perfectly for offsetting the grimmer tensions of the first movement. With the third movements Allegro molto vivace, Tchaikovsky sets out with a scherzo-like scampering of strings and woodwinds, interrupted at times with a bold marching spirit. Gradually, that march takes charge, providing the most overtly optimistic moods of the symphony. Powering as it does to the movement’s closing chord, it occasionally surprises inattentive listeners into bursts of applause, on the mistaken notion that this must be the end of the entire work. Indeed, ending with excitement would be a typical way of building a symphony, but that is not what Tchaikovsky had in mind. His Finale: Adagio lamentoso – Andante offers slow tempos, long phrasing, and intense musical sighs and sobs. For every phrase that rises, three more fall in despair, and it is in the most funereal of moods that the symphony fades to its close.
(Source: Encyclopedia Britannica)