Both works to be performed on this evening seem to reflect some need on the part of their otherwise fundamentally optimistic composers to formulate darker thoughts and raise multifaceted questions. At the age of 25, Edvard Grieg threw himself into writing his piano concerto with the passion of his years, and his direct and emotional composition soon became a great audience favourite. Ernst von Dohnanyi's Second Symphony was conceived in the soul of a composer fleeing the Soviet advance during World War II. Standing before us is a man of extraordinary talent with a tremendous capacity for work and a fine sense of humour who leaves his country and audience with a greying head and a deep sense of uncertainty over the future of his people and his own career. In places, the symphony acts as a kind of soundtrack without a film; at the end of which, one way or the other, hope triumphs. Although nearly 80 years passed between the writing of the two pieces, and Grieg was widely considered old-fashioned in his own time, not to mention the later Dohnanyi, their works still find their way to the audience of the 21st century.

Presented by: Pannon Philharmonic