What is life without the warmth and inspiration of human affection? When virtuoso violinist Joseph Joachim bounded into Brahms’s life like an energetic puppy, he utterly overwhelmed the composer, drawing from him a violin concerto that’s at once poised and playful. Bela Bartok, alone, exiled, ill and poor, might well have thought his compositional life over in 1943. His friend the conductor Serge Koussevitsky thought otherwise. He re-energised Bartok with encouragement and a major commission. Eight weeks later Bartok delivered his Concerto for Orchestra - a percussive, irrepressible and playful firecracker of a piece. London Philharmonic Orchestra website.| 17 Mar 10 | Southbank Centre West End, Greater London Performance Details => Venue archive |
