Concerto for harpsichord | Mahan Esfahani

Sunday 21 May 2023, 11.00 am
Köln, Germany

Antonín DVOŘÁK: Slavonic dances (selection)
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 4 B major op. 60
Bohuslav MARTINŮ: Concerto for harpsichord and small orchestra, H 246

Mahan Esfahani (harpsichord)
Michael Sanderling (conductor)
Gürzenich-Orchester Köln

A »slim Greek maiden standing between two Nordic giants« – Music critics of today obviously try to avoid playing with these kinds of stereotypes. Robert Schumann however used this image to emphasize the extraordinary impact of Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony on him, compared with the Third and the Fifth: An epitome of beauty that fascinated the young Romantics in particular. Michael Sanderling, popular and frequent guest conductor at the Gürzenich Orchestra, centres his programme around this work. The Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů, inspired by the sound ideal that prevailed during Beethoven’s times, uses the harpsichord of Artist in Residence Mahan Esfahani as particle accelerator to send the orchestra back to the future – a work essential to the rediscovery of this outdated instrument. A selection of Antonín Dvořák’s popular Slavonic Dances rounds off the programme.

More information: https://www.guerzenich-orchester.de/en/programm/freestyle/971