THOMAS SØNDERGÅRD, conductor

FRANCESCO PIEMONTESI, piano

 

Johannes Brahms: Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra in D minor, Op. 15

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, Scottish

 

Seventeen years after its performance at Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, one of Europe’s leading symphony orchestras with a rich history, founded in 1891, returns to Zagreb. In addition to its regular concert activity throughout Europe, the USA and China, it also owes its international renown to top recordings, crowned with the most prestigious music awards. In its Zagreb concert, the orchestra, whose mission is to inspire, educate and entertain a broad audience, especially younger generations, will be led by its music director and principal guest conductor, a Danish artist with a respectable international career, Thomas Søndergård. He is also a recipient of the award for outstanding contribution to Danish musical life and the Royal Danish Order of the Dannebrog.

 

Swiss Italian pianist Francesco Piemontesi is considered one of the leading interpreters of the German Classical and Romantic repertoire. His poetic and intimate, yet simultaneously powerful and brilliant performances delight audiences and critics around the world. Performing alongside the world's leading musicians and orchestras, in the most famous European and American concert halls, he approaches performance and musical experience with particular consideration: "Making music is like a second language for me. It feels like an existential necessity. I don't want to entertain the audience, I want to let them participate in the deep dimensions of music.”

 

Francesco Piemontesi will perform the demanding solo part of the monumental Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15 by Johannes Brahms, a piece composed over five years consisting of three movements of epic proportions. Dense in texture and sumptuous in sound, the Concerto synthesizes its author's compositional postulates. The second part of the evening will feature Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, Scottish, the composer's last completed symphonic work, inspired by a trip to Scotland. Thanks to its picturesqueness and dignified atmosphere, it holds a special place in the 19th-century music.