Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Joana Mallwitz

As part of the "Homage to Elisabeth Leonskaja," the Konzerthausorchester and principal conductor Joana Mallwitz will perform music from Bohemia, Norway and Hungary. Edvard Grieg found it extremely difficult to simply say "I'll leave it like this - finished and good! The Norwegian only presented a single piano concerto to the public, and he even spent a long time polishing it afterwards. He wrote it in 1868 during a trip to Denmark with his bride Nina, but he was inspired by another woman: the famous pianist Clara Schumann, whom he had heard as a student in Leipzig playing the A minor Piano Concerto of her husband Robert, whom he greatly admired. The Grieg soloist to be heard here is, of course, Elisabeth Leonskaja. The piano concerto is framed by Antonín Dvořák's "Noonday Witch," inspired by Bohemian folklore, and Zoltán Kodály's rousing, colorfully orchestrated "Dances from Galánta" and his "Háry János" suite.