Francesco Piemontesi performs Brahms's First Piano Concerto

When Johannes Brahms was in his early twenties, he experienced two life-changing events almost simultaneously. He met his musical mentors Clara and Robert Schumann, and he began work on his first major orchestral piece.

What started as an attempt to write a sonata gradually developed into Piano Concerto No. 1. More than twenty years later, in Symphony No. 3, Brahms wove his life motto "Frei aber froh" – free but happy – into the very fabric of the music, creating one of his most emotionally charged symphonies.