Orchesterkonzert 2 · Orchestra Concerto 2

We would like to thank Mr. Jesko Sirvend 
for taking over the conducting duties in today's concert at short notice
in place of the ill Brandon Keith Brown.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847) The Hebrides or "Fingal's Cave" Concert Overture No. 2 op. 26
In August 1829, the 20-year-old composer visited the Hebrides archipelago northwest of Scotland with its famous Fingal's Cave. It is named after King Fingal, a mythical figure from the "Songs of Ossian". Mendelssohn's music, however, focuses entirely on a portrait of water, sea and wind.

Sergei V. Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor op. 18
The concerto, which begins quite unusually with a striking sequence of piano chords, still enjoys great popularity today. The use of the melodious Adagio sostenuto The use of the melodious Adagio sostenuto as film music, for example in "The Darned Seventh Year" with Marylin Monroe, certainly contributed to this. This Adagio inspired Eric Carmen to the pop ballad "All by Myself", which is currently almost omnipresent in the Deutsche Bahn commercial.

Peter I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Violin Concerto in D major op. 35
The famous Viennese critic Eduard Hanslick wrote about the premiere: "Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto gives us the gruesome idea for the first time, whether there might not also be pieces of music that one hears stink." Russian musicians were considered vulgar or sentimental in Vienna at the time. However, this criticism of the premiere could not prevent the triumphant progress of this concerto.  

Jihun Hong, piano
Marie Helling, violin

Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz
Conductor Jesko Sirvend