As the year draws to a close, Hamburg bursts into life with a series of spectacular musical events hosted by Symphoniker Hamburg at the iconic Laeiszhalle. The lineup features a blend of timeless classics and innovative performances, offering something for everyone. From Beethoven's transformative Ninth Symphony to intimate chamber music sessions and delightful children's concerts, these events promise to captivate audiences and celebrate the universal language of music. With renowned artists and conductors gracing the stage, this year-end musical extravaganza is poised to leave an indelible mark.

A Symphony of Traditions: Hamburg's Year-End Musical Extravaganza

Sylvain Cambreling

Szymon Nehring

Symphoniker Hamburg

After the young Polish pianist Szymon Nehring enjoyed a tremendous success last season with Mozart's "Jenamy" Concerto in E-flat major, he is now sitting at the grand piano in the Great Hall again with the first piano concerto in D minor, op. 15 by Johannes Brahms, who was about the same age at the time at just under 30.

"You see, this is a symphony theme," Anton Bruckner is said to have added to his overflowing quotation list after hearing the beginning of Brahms' concert colossus. But it was not only in Vienna that the strange hybrid work was met with scepticism. At the first performance in Leipzig at the Gewandhaus, the opus failed - "brilliantly and decisively" (Brahms). In 1860, a Hamburg critic spoke of a "symphony with obbligato piano." There were two shocks that the young Brahms was probably trying to process in his work: Schumann's suicide attempt in February 1854 and Beethoven's Ninth, which he had heard for the first time in his life. At the planned premiere of his concert in the Hamburg Musikverein, Brahms was denied the only playable grand piano. So he traveled with his work to Hanover for the premiere under the direction of his friend Joseph Joachim in January 1859.

Szymon Nehring with Brahms' Piano Concerto – Works by Debussy

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