Interview
Susanne Stähr on Brahms’s Second Symphony Daniel Barenboim and Martha Argerich
An extraordinary concert that will remain in the memory! For the first time, two world stars who have known each other since childhood appeared together in a Berliner Philharmoniker concert: Martha Argerich and Daniel Barenboim. The programme included Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto, one of the pianist’s favourite works. Daniel Barenboim also conducted Johannes Brahms’s Second Symphony.
Wherever Martha Argerich plays, she magically draws people in – with captivating stage presence, temperament, and her inimitable touch. The exceptional pianist, who has been acclaimed in international concert life for decades, is now performing for the first time with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Daniel Barenboim, who has been her lifelong artistic friend. The two first met as “child prodigies” in Buenos Aires in 1949. “She plays much better than I do,” conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim says about her.
The programme includes Schumann’s Piano Concerto, a repertoire hit that particularly suits Martha Argerich: its Romantic, lyrical tone, but also the powerful passages of the composition offer her the opportunity to exploit her wide range of expression. Even Clara Schumann, who shone as the soloist at the premiere, admired the piano concerto and commented enthusiastically: “How rich in invention, how interesting from beginning to end it is, how fresh and what a beautifully coherent whole!”
As an ideal companion of this Romantic programme, Daniel Barenboim conducts Johannes Brahms’s Second Symphony. This summer composition was written between Pörtschach on Lake Wörthersee and Lichtental near Baden-Baden, where Brahms visited Clara Schumann. After his tragic First Symphony, the Second Symphony seems much more light-hearted. This did not escape Eduard Hanslick, the critic of the extremely successful premiere: “The Second Symphony shines like the sun warming experts and laymen alike; it belongs to all who long for good music”.
Berliner Philharmoniker
Daniel Barenboim
Martha Argerich
© 2023 Berlin Phil Media GmbH
Related interviews
