Organization

Conductor

Leonard Bernstein

Orchestra

Wiener Philharmoniker

Musikverein

Wiener Philharmoniker-Brahms, Piano Concerto No. 1

Vienna

Austria

Großer Saal

ohannes Brahms was 26 years old when he finished his first piano concerto, which is one of the most dense and soloistically most demanding of the entire 19th century. The work was slow and laborious; it took him over three years to improve and revise the work. In contrast to most virtuoso concertos of its time, it could almost be described as a symphony with piano obbligato. The premiere took place on January 22, 1859; the composer himself had taken over the piano part. Brahms wrote to his friend Joseph Joachim that the concerto "brilliantly and resolutely failed". The complex structure, the symphonic dimensions, the lack of effective, elegant brilliance in the solo part,

On the occasion of Johannes Brahms' 150th birthday in 1983, Leonard Bernstein recorded almost all of the composer's orchestral works for disc and video with the Vienna Philharmonic between 1981 and 1984. Today this cycle is considered a milestone in the interpretation of Brahms' music. For Bernstein, Brahms was "a true romantic who clothed his passions in a classical guise", but also "a north German classicist who ended up in Vienna, where he was inspired by the Danube, the Carpathians and the temperament of the gypsies". Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic took this dualism into account, emphasizing both the classical and romantic elements, the dramatic intensity and the sober restraint of Brahms' music.

The soloist in this Brahms concerto is the Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman (*5 December 1956), whose meteoric rise began in 1975 after winning the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. After expanding his repertoire and studying in London in 1980, he made a name for himself through numerous concerts and recordings as one of the most gifted pianists of his generation. His friendship with Artur Rubinstein had a significant influence in his youth; other focal points in the pianist's career were working with conductors such as Bernstein, Giulini and Karajan.

Zimerman only gives a few concerts; the number of his disc releases is also small, but these are widely regarded as exemplary and first class in terms of interpretation and technique. Krystian Zimerman leads a master class at the Musikhochschule Basel.

Wiener Philharmoniker-Brahms, Piano Concerto No. 1: Concert Various

Public

Concert

Approved

On the occasion of Johannes Brahms' 150th birthday in 1983, Leonard Bernstein recorded almost all of the composer's orchestral works for disc and video with the Vienna Philharmonic between 1981 and 1984. Today this cycle is considered a milestone in the interpretation of Brahms' music. For Bernstein, Brahms was "a true romantic who clothed his passions in a classical guise", but also "a north German classicist who ended up in Vienna, where he was inspired by the Danube, the Carpathians and the temperament of the gypsies". Bernstein and the Vienna Philharmonic took this dualism into account, emphasizing both the classical and romantic elements, the dramatic intensity and the sober restraint of Brahms' music.

The soloist in this Brahms concerto is the Polish pianist Krystian Zimerman (*5 December 1956), whose meteoric rise began in 1975 after winning the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. After expanding his repertoire and studying in London in 1980, he made a name for himself through numerous concerts and recordings as one of the most gifted pianists of his generation. His friendship with Artur Rubinstein had a significant influence in his youth; other focal points in the pianist's career were working with conductors such as Bernstein, Giulini and Karajan.

Zimerman only gives a few concerts; the number of his disc releases is also small, but these are widely regarded as exemplary and first class in terms of interpretation and technique. Krystian Zimerman leads a master class at the Musikhochschule Basel.

English

Wiener Philharmoniker-Brahms, Piano Concerto No. 1 by Various, From (1983/1983), Conductor Leonard Bernstein, Musikverein, Vienna, Austria

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