Philharmonia Orchestra

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No.27 in B flat, K.595
Interval
Anton Bruckner: Symphony No.8

Christoph von Dohnányi conducts Bruckner's grand Symphony No.8, alongside Mozart's Concerto No.27 with pianist Martin Helmchen.

Austro-Hungarian composer Hugo Wolf was in such awe of Bruckner's monumental Eighth Symphony that he hailed it 'the creation of a giant', concluding that 'no Roman emperor could have wished for a greater triumph'. With the weight and grandeur of its themes and the Wagnerian ambition of its orchestration, such lofty praise would not seem misplaced. Indeed, today - over a century after its 1892 Vienna premiere - it remains an apotheosis of the symphonic form.

Here its epic scale and towering complexity are perfectly contrasted with the pared down introspection of Mozart's Concerto No.27.

Philharmonia Orchestra
Christoph von Dohnányi conductor
Martin Helmchen piano