| Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827) | Concerto pour violon et orchestre en ré majeur, Op. 61 | |
| Strauss, Richard (1864-1949) | Une symphonie alpestre (Eine Alpensinfonie), Op. 64 |
| Czech Philharmonic | |
| Semyon Bychkov | Direction |
| Lisa Batiashvili | Violon |
When Beethoven heard the 14-year-old violin prodigy Franz Clement play in Vienna, he declared enthusiastically: “Nature and art are wed hand in hand in your talent.” Clement and Beethoven became friends, and 12 years later the composer dedicated his Violin Concerto to him. Although the première was a success, Clement did not become an enthusiastic promoter of Beethoven’s concerto, and over time his artistry as a violinist fell into decline. It was the violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim, just 12 years of age, who was responsible for the return of Beethoven’s concerto to the limelight years later. Conducting the orchestra was no less an artist than Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.
Beethoven, like many other great composers of our history, was a curious visitor of the beautiful city of Prague. How could he not have been inspired by this city with such a deep soul and history combined with pride and beauty. Prague, in my opinion, represents the most powerful and timeless essence of European culture, combining East and West.
Lisa Batiashvili
There is an interesting connection between Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Strauss’ Alpine Symphony. The concerto is musically very closely tied to nature, and of course even just the title of the Alpine Symphony clearly suggests a work about nature. But that is actually a mistake because Strauss only uses nature as a metaphor for the life’s journey of a person from birth to death and for what happens to them along the way. So the Alpine Symphony is not about going through the forest or what you hear in the mountains. Everything in it operates as a story of the experiencing of human life. It is an absolutely existential work.
Semyon Bychkov