Barnabás Kelemen and the Concerto Budapest

The closing concert of the Keszthely season continues the acclaimed series by András Keller and Concerto Budapest, dedicated to presenting the most influential masterpieces of Romantic music.

Johannes Brahms’s only Violin Concerto—like many of his great works—achieved real success only years after its premiere, eventually becoming one of the cornerstones of the concert repertoire. Early critics complained that the solo part was unviolinistic and more difficult than it was brilliant, and questioned the inclusion of the memorable oboe solo in a violin concerto. But that moment, in fact, reveals one of the work’s most distinctive qualities: here the violin does not dominate the orchestra, and the orchestra frequently steps into the foreground.

Today, with the vastly expanded technical mastery of violinists, the work’s challenges no longer seem disproportionate. Moreover, its symphonic depth is now regarded as one of its greatest virtues—the rich orchestral writing adds to, rather than overshadows, the soloist’s role. Though Brahms is often thought of as a brooding figure, in this concerto he reveals a more lyrical, at times dramatic, and ultimately spirited, almost Hungarian side of himself.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s six symphonies culminate in the last three, which are deeply autobiographical meditations on fate, struggle, and reconciliation. The Fourth Symphony—the first of this trilogy—centers on a musical motto that the composer described as follows:

“This is the seed, the main idea of the whole symphony. It is fate… that hangs over a person’s head like the sword of Damocles, unyielding and ever-poisoning the soul. We can never overcome it—only endure it in misery.”

Yet, even though this fate motif returns again and again throughout the symphony, the work ultimately closes with a sense of triumph: the idea that fate can, in the end, be overcome.

Experience the soaring heights and profound depths of Romantic music with the works of Brahms and Tchaikovsky — and let these two masterpieces, both ending on a note of optimism, lift and inspire you!