Sinfoniekonzerte 2. Sinfoniekonzert „Künstlerfreundschaft“

In the organizer's words:

"This guy has more ideas than all of us put together." Johannes Brahms boosted the career of his still relatively unknown friend Antonín Dvořák. According to Brahms, anyone else could "pick the main themes out of the Czech's wastepaper basket". Brahms supported his younger colleague with good contacts and practical tips.

Dvořák also presented his mentor with new compositions at personal meetings. Brahms found his 8th Symphony "musically captivating and beautiful", although he found too much "triviality" in it. Was Brahms right? Listen to this melodically flourishing, folk-tinged Eighth with its fiery verve and enchanting waltzes for yourself.

The young Brahms experienced first-hand how difficult it is to make a name for himself as a composer. His powerful First Piano Concerto was booed at an important performance in Leipzig. In fact, Brahms unsettled the audience, who were used to light virtuoso fare, with his pianistically extremely tricky piece. Brahms' career was almost sealed with this fiasco. But he refused to be deterred - and had artist friends who believed in him.