NOSPR / Alsop / Müller / Great Classics, Great Neoclassicism - NOSPR

‘Nothing but drums, cannons, and human misery in every form!’ Beethoven wrote in the summer of 1809, as Napoleonic troops were storming Vienna and the composer was trying to shield what remained of his hearing by covering his ears with pillows. Against this backdrop emerged the Piano Concerto No 5 in E-flat major, a monumental work in which the orchestra becomes a genuine partner to the soloist. Written in the heroic key of E-flat major, the concerto nevertheless contains something deeply personal: joy, tenderness, and anxiety. The opening movement carries traces of military music (timpani and marches among them), though it can hardly be construed as a celebration of war. On the contrary, Beethoven grapples with the traumas of wartime reality, transforming them into pure gold. The second movement offers a moment of respite in one of the most heavenly melodies ever penned by the composer, before transitioning attacca into the finale – a broad, vigorous dance. The second half of the evening brings music from post-war Poland: Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra (1954), an expansive neoclassical symphonic form and one of the most accomplished compositions in Polish music. Its originality lies in the way it combines Mazovian folk music with Baroque polyphony and the compositional language of twentieth-century masters (most notably Béla Bartók). Lutosławski himself judged the Concerto critically, regarding it as a testament to a period when ‘he wrote as he could, not as he wished’.

Piotr Matwiejczuk (Polskie Radio)

Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 100 minutes

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