Mariss Jansons & Daniel Barenboim

Friday, 10 November 2017, 8.00 pm
Munich, Gasteig

Programme

Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Concerto No 5 E-flat major, op 73

Interval

Sergej Prokofjew
Symphony No 5 B-flat major, op 100

Claude Debussy
Clair de lune

Mariss Jansons, Conductor

Daniel Barenboim, Piano

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

Download Programme Booklet in German.

Two like-minded artists

After a ten-year absence, Daniel Barenboim is returning to the Bavarian RSO as a solo pianist! Back in 2007 he played Brahms’s First Concerto with Mariss Jansons at the conductor’s rostrum, and older music-lovers still recall his marvellous guest appearances under principal conductor Rafael Kubelik in the 1970s. Just a few days after his Munich concerts, this universal musician will celebrate his 75th birthday, with Maestro Jansons following suit exactly two months later. This time these two like-minded artists will perform Beethoven’s majestic Fifth Piano Concerto in the heroic key of E-flat major. Tellingly, Jansons will combine Beethoven’s symphonically conceived masterpiece with Sergei Prokofiev’s most popular symphony, the monumental Fifth. For although it’s not obvious on the surface, both works originated in the turmoil of war: Beethoven’s concerto arose in 1809 during the Napoleonic occupation of Vienna, and Prokofiev’s symphony in 1944, the final year of World War II. Both works radiate certainty of victory, emotional pathos, melodic strength and intimate lyricism, and Prokofiev, a champion of “Socialist Realism”, ensured that his life-affirming symphony would be readily understood by his fellow countrymen.