Master meets young talent

The opening of Johannes Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 1 strikes us as abrupt and awkward. A disturbed reaction to Robert Schumann's confused leap into the Rhine is said to have been the opening theme. Brahms struggled to process this experience, as well as to develop the concerto. Initially conceived as a sonata for two pianos, then as a symphony, finally culminating in a symphonic piano concerto. It contains a tribute to Robert Schumann, as well as to Clara Schumann, hidden primarily in the lyrical sections. The premiere in Hanover was hailed as a "respectable success," while the repeat performance at the Leipzig Gewandhaus was described as a "disaster." Today, we wouldn't want to miss Johannes Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 1 – and we're excited to hear the interpretation by the young American Maxim Lando, who is making his Museum Concerts debut.

Just as Robert Schumann had proclaimed the young Johannes Brahms as "that master who would be called upon to express the highest expression of the age in an ideal way," Brahms later promoted the young Antonín Dvořák and recommended him to his publisher Simrock. The two developed a lifelong friendship. Before their first meeting, Dvořák had already composed four symphonies, which are less well known than the following five. Nevertheless, the Prague premiere of the Fourth Symphony was already a success. It is considered today an important step on Dvořák's path to becoming one of the great Romantic symphonists.

(translated from site)

Cornelius Meister, Conductor

Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1

Alte Oper Frankfurt

Frankfurt, Germany