“Famose Komposition” – Filarmonica della Scala Milano Brahms in the Alps: The Complete Thun Compositions V

Symphony Concert

Saturday, 1 September 2018
7.30 pm, Gstaad Festival Tent

The final concert of the 62^nd Gstaad Menuhin Festival is truly a gala event with the return of the Filarmonica della Scala Milano under the direction of Andrey Boreyko to perform the consummate but rarely heard Double Concerto by Brahms with string stars Vilde Frang and Sol Gabetta. Hailed as a “famose Komposition” (brilliant composition) by conductor Hans von Bülow, it was composed in Thun during the summer of 1887. With this work Brahms not only responded to the wishes of cellist Robert Hausmann (who had desired a concerto for cello) but he also conceived it as a gesture of reconciliation with his close friend Joseph Joachim with whom he had become estranged after the violinist’s divorce (Brahms had sided with Joachim’s wife). A form that had been very popular in the Baroque and Classic periods, concertos for multiple soloists were very rare in the 19^th century; the closest and only equivalent that can be cited is Beethoven’s Triple Concerto.