‘National Orchestra of Belgium’

The still young Romanian-German pianist Herbert Schuch has won various international music competitions (Casa Grande, London and Vienna) and combines a breath-taking technique with great intelligence. This evening he plays the rhythmic and dynamic Piano Concerto by Viktor Ullmann, a work that he has also recorded. This is the most important work by the Austrian composer of Jewish origin, whose promising musical future was tragically curtailed. He was deported by the Nazis to Theresienstadt and died in Auschwitz. More cheerful in tone is Felix Mendelssohn’s Fourth Symphony in which he translates his personal impressions of Italy into music. Despite the composer’s reservations, this has turned out to be his most popular symphony.