Melbourne Symphony Orchestra presents James Ehnes: Beethoven’s Violin Concerto

György Ligeti arranged Six Bagatelles for wind quintet from a cycle of piano pieces he had written years previously, Musica ricercata. Ten members of the MSO woodwind section will perform these vivacious and intricate vignettes to open the program.

Then, the strings of the MSO take to the stage for Bartók’s Divertimento. Heavily influenced by the rhythms and tonalities of Eastern European folk music, Bartók composed the work in a Swiss Alps chalet owned by the commissioner of the work.

Beethoven’s Violin Concerto was composed for prodigy Franz Clement. The concerto did not immediately catch on with audiences; it wasn’t until forty years later, when thirteen-year-old Joseph Joachim performed the piece under the baton of Felix Mendelssohn, that it entered the standard repertoire.