First Subscription Concert of the Sixty-Fourth Season from the Ulster Hall, Belfast
Myra Hess (pianoforte)
Frederick Stone (organ)
The Belfast Philharmonic
Chorus
The Belfast Philharmonic
Orchestra
Leader, Philip Whiteway
Conductor, E. Godfrey Brown
Brahms appeared as soloist in his Second Piano Concerto on its first appearance ; that was in the Christmas week of 1880, in Vienna. Nearly twenty-two years had elapsed since the First Piano Concerto had appeared. The Second Concerto in B flat is the largest and most elaborate of all concertos in the classical form. Each of the four movements is designed on the most spacious lines. The essentially symphonic character of the music and the treatment of the solo piano make this concerto virtually a symphony for orchestra with piano. The slow movement with its exquisite ' conversation ' between the piano and solo cello is one of Brahms's most inspired idylls, while the finale, a rondo, is a perfect answer to those who perpetuate the legend that Brahms was incapable of being light in heart and touch.