Joseph Haydn: Symphony No.85 (La reine)
Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto in D
Interval
Jean Sibelius: Symphony No.1

Paavo Järvi conducts a truly 'symphonic' programme with Haydn's Symphony No.85 and Sibelius's Symphony No.1, joined by Lisa Batiashvili as soloist in the Brahms Violin Concerto.

Tonight's concert celebrates the music of three great symphonists at the height of their powers. La Reine ('The Queen') is the fourth of Haydn's six magnificent Paris symphonies, which earned its nickname as it was a particular favourite of Queen Marie Antoinette.

Sibelius's First established the Nordic symphonic tradition at a stroke, its desolate opening clarinet solo finding emotional release in a surging, impassioned score of captivating emotional power.

Brahms also synthesised the sounds of a solo instrument with music on a symphonic scale in his Violin Concerto, which virtuoso Bronislav Huberman characterised memorably as 'a concerto for violin against orchestra - and the violin wins!'.

Performers

Philharmonia Orchestra
Paavo Järvi conductor
Lisa Batiashvili violin

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