Works by Richard Strauss, Johannes Brahms and Antonín Dvořák

With intoxicating and life-hungry sounds, the works on this concert program tell of the creative urge and breakthrough of their composers. For Richard Strauss, his symphonic poem Don Juan was a great success with the public. The young composer was immediately won over by its heroic tone. Johannes Brahms was not so successful with his first orchestral work: after much hesitation, he premiered his First Piano Concerto in Hanover in 1859, but the second performance of the work in Leipzig was a flop with the public. From then on, the composer still had a long way to go to achieve resounding success. Today, it is impossible to imagine orchestral music without his brilliant piano concerto. Antonín Dvořák wrote his 8th Symphony in a phase of international triumph and was literally overwhelmed by the countless musical ideas that found their way into the work.