Interview
Jaap van Zweden in conversation with Christoph Streuli Jaap van Zweden makes his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker
In this concert from May 2013, Jaap van Zweden made his debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker. He began his musical career as a 19-year-old with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam as first concertmaster before he launched an international career as a conductor which has taken him to the top position with the New York Philharmonic. The concert programme includes Johannes Brahms’ First Symphony and Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra.
Brahms struggled with his First Symphony for 14 years before completing it in 1876: the example of Beethoven seemed overpowering. Nevertheless, Brahms masterfully found his own way. In his symphony, there are references to Beethoven but also a pioneering structural concept – with an introduction that already contains the germ of all the symphonyʼs thematic material.
Béla Bartók, whose Concerto for Orchestra we also hear in this concert, was an admirer of Brahms. Commissioned by the American Koussevitzky Foundation, Bartók wrote the work in 1943. The title is explained by the concertante solo treatment of individual instrument groups. When Bartók composed this work, he was already terminally ill and – in terms of his recognition as a composer – he was totally disillusioned. Nevertheless, he succeeded in creating a work which, from its sombre opening, finds its way to a life-affirming finale.
Jaap van Zweden took over the direction of this concert for an indisposed Mariss Jansons.
Berliner Philharmoniker
Jaap van Zweden
© 2013 Berlin Phil Media GmbH
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