Dohnányi conducts in London

Sometimes the greatest works of art can result from situations of fear and stress. Weber had just months to live when he composed Oberon and was terrified of the future insecurity faced by his beloved family in the event of his early death, whilst Beethoven composed his final piano concerto under the threat of wartime occupation. Miraculously, none of this misery is evident in either work – Weber’s overture is an early Romantic masterpiece of delicate orchestral writing and the Emperor concerto is Beethoven at his boldest, most innovative and most heroic. Schumann’s Rhenish symphony, composed against the altogether happier backdrop of a new position as Music Director of the Düsseldorf Orchestra, is a joyous celebration of the landscape, legends and history of the Rhineland.