Symphonyconcert10

“It is a remarkable, colossal work with a depth, power and artistic erudition matched by few others,” raved critics after the premiere of Beethoven’s Second Symphony. In those days, it took quite a bit of getting used to, although today we perceive it as cheerfully idyllic and Mozartian. Thus, it is time to listen to the details again – the elements of surprise, for example, with which the composer brilliantly undermines his audience’s listening habits. Beethoven carried his fondness for unexpected humour to the extreme in the Eighth, where one joke follows on the heels of the next. A genius, who was a master at breaking traditional rules.
Artistic wilfulness but also the electrifying effect of the work – Bernd Alois Zimmermann has these traits in common with Beethoven. The expressive intensity of the dialogue between the solo instrument and orchestra in his Violin Concerto and the combination of twelve-tone technique and rumba rhythms are captivating. No other violinist is better qualified to interpret the concerto, which makes the highest demands on the soloist, than Leila Josefowicz. The charismatic Canadian thrills audiences throughout the world with her boundless enthusiasm for the new and unfamiliar.