BRAHMS: Variations on a Theme of Haydn

HAYDN: Symphony No. 44, Trauersinfonie

BRAHMS: Piano Concerto No. 1

What’s interesting about this concert: 

• A program of identities both mistaken and true. Brahms’ reworking of a theme (perhaps not) by Haydn and the full embrace of his own style in the First Piano Concerto.

• The Chicago Sun Times describes pianist Yefim Bronfman as “a bear of a man.” When “heft is called for…he is there to deliver it.”

• Like a symphony, Brahms’ concerto explores the capabilities of the entire orchestra, going far beyond featuring only the soloist.