The Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and I are always delighted to be guests at the prestigious Budapest Zeneakadémia and now we are about to return there. On 19th October, I’m conducting an all-Brahms concert which I know will be lyrical and passionate thanks to the sound of our orchestra and the skills of pianist Simon Trpčeski. On the programme are the Concerto no. 2 in B flat major op. 83 and the Symphony no. 4 in E minor op. 98, two monuments of immense musical, historical and interpretative value. Moreover, they are two works of perfect beauty, amongst those that have all of Brahms in them and, as a result, are milestones in the catalogue of the composer, and of virtuoso piano and symphonic performance, and amongst the works most well-loved by enthusiasts worldwide.

For my part, the fact that they were composed within such a short time of each other inspires reflection on the essential unity of intentions in that phase of Brahms’s creativity, representing a crucial landmark for understanding the Maestro from Hamburg and the century’s musical landscape and background. The two works also have in common the not-insignificant fact that the first performance of the Concerto was given with Brahms himself at the piano, and the first performance of the Fourth Symphony (on 25th October 1885, so in Budapest it will be almost exactly its 139^th anniversary) with the composer himself conducting the Meiningen Court Orchestra. Here then, even more than in his other masterpieces, everything speaks of Brahms right to the core, centred around dense, robust symphonism and irresistible, impeccably managed play on rhythm and timbre, capable of daring exploration of each of the wonderful themes. This is particularly true of the Fourth Symphony which, besides being one of the most awe-inspiring symphonies of the nineteenth century, is in many ways, and thanks to its Finale, the extreme epilogue of the symphony born in the classical style.