Glücksgriff

Sometimes images can be deceiving: in the photographs we know of him, Johannes Brahms invariably has a serious face, gazing at the camera with a strict, aloof expression. Yet the man with the impressive full beard also had wit and humour. »Never have I written anything so sad and minor in key: the score must be printed with a mourning edge,« he wrote to his publisher, who was waiting for the completion of the master’s Second Symphony. Shocking! How on earth would something like that sell? The truth turned out to be the absolute opposite: radiant, elegant yet also relaxed, this symphony turned out catchy and doubtlessly more cheerful than Johannes Brahms’ other three. The famous music critic Eduard Hanslick raved after its world premiere: »Like the sun, the Second Symphony warms the hearts of experts and laymen alike; it belongs to anyone longing for good music.« A real stroke of luck, in other words! In the hands of Andrés Orozco-Estrada, nothing will be left to be desired. And speaking of lucky strikes: surely, Béla Bartók too was accorded one when he wrote his Music for String Instruments, Percussion and Celesta. Like Brahms’ Second Symphony, this energetic bravura number has been an absolute audience favourite since its world premiere.
That seems unlikely to change..