‘Brussels Philharmonic’

CONTEXT: 19:00 Introduction at the piano with Michel Tabachnik

Despite the sometimes rigid structures, the music of Brahms is often highly sensual in its rhythms. So much so that commentators have even ventured to use the term ‘swing’  to describe for instance the finale of his Second Piano Concerto. In Strauss’ Tod und Verklärung there is no life, but only death and a glance back at what is past, musings about victories and defeats and then, the end. Between life and death there hovers the fairy tale world to which Igor Stravinsky whisks us away. 100 years after the premiere, Stravinsky’s Firebird still sounds magical to our ears.