Leif Ove Andsnes / Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra / Edward Gardner / Festival Katowice Culture Nature - NOSPR

The concert will be available in rebroadcast on 16 May on Dwójka – Program Two of Polish Radio.

We start with orchestral pyrotechnics – the breathtaking Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986), by the American composer John Adams. Then comes Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto (1841–1845) – a Romantic escapade in which the boundaries of forms and genres are broken and crossed. In this fantasy piece, the composer encoded the history of his tumultuous love for Clara Wieck, who gave the Concerto’s first performance. At our festival, it will be played by the Norwegian master of the pianoforte Leif Ove Andsnes, whose memorable performance in 2018 left us with the dream – now fulfilled – of hearing him once again. After the interval, we will hear Carl Nielsen’s ‘Inextinguishable’ Fourth Symphony (1914–1916), extolling music as the expression of an insatiable and unquenchable will to live, capable of overcoming all obstacles and setbacks.

[translated by John Comber]

Duration of the concert (including break): approx. 90 minutes