This concert is an opportunity to welcome a world-famous French-Canadian pianist to the stage: Louis Lortie launched his career in 1984 with victory at one of the most prestigious contests for his instrument: the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Concerto Competition. Based in Berlin since 1997, he has played all of Beethoven's piano sonatas at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels, where he succeeded Maria João Pires as artist in residence, as well as at London's Wigmore Hall and the Berlin Philharmonie. He has also performed Liszt's complete piano cycle Années de pèlerinage at Carnegie Hall. At this concert, he will treat the audience to one of the loveliest – and most frequently played – concerto works in the classical literature: Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor. The sweeping energy and tempestuous atmosphere of Wagner's overture to his opera The Flying Dutchman make this another popular concert piece.
The symphony featured in the second half of the evening was only completed after a lengthy creative process lasting more than two decades: Brahms had already produced nearly half of his oeuvre when he completed his Symphony No. 1, which arcs marvellously from darkness into the light.

Presented by: Hungarian National Philharmonic