Hilary Hahn performs the Violin Concerto in D major op. 77 with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France conducted by Mikko Franck. Concert recorded on April 21, 2023 at the Maison de la Radio et de la Musique. 0:00 1st movement - Allegro ma non troppo 24:41 2nd movement - Adagio 34:03 3rd movement - Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace It was in May 1853, at the age of twenty, that Johannes Brahms met the famous Joseph Joachim in Hanover. A violinist two years his senior, a former student of Mendelssohn, a prodigy admired by Berlioz, Liszt, Robert and Clara Schumann, Joachim was to become one of the greatest performers of his time. A fraternal musical bond was established between the two young people. Joachim noted about the 1853 meeting: "Johannes, tender idealist... when he played me the movements of his Sonata, I found it of an unimaginable force and originality, at once noble and inspired." Cemented by the affection that united them, one as the other, with the Schumanns, the friendship between Brahms and Joachim would last more than forty years despite a falling out. We owe to this friendship two violin concertos: the Hungarian Concerto, Opus 11 by Joachim (1860), dedicated to Brahms, forgotten today, and the Concerto in D major by Brahms dedicated to Joachim. Solidity and symphonic power characterize this score where courage, lyricism, heroic impulses, breathtaking virtuosity follow one another. Brahms completed his Concerto in the summer of 1878 in Pörtschach, a small Austrian town on the shores of Lake Wörthersee in Carinthia, before reworking the violin part with Joachim in September. "There is some excuse for this concerto bearing your name," he later wrote to his friend, "since you are more or less responsible for the violin part." The opening Allegro ma non troppo has the distinction of beginning with a vast exposition in which the orchestra sets out the thematic material, before the energetic entry of the soloist. Virtuoso episodes then alternate with long melodic moments. Brahms left the place of the cadenza empty, leaving it to his performers to realize it as they saw fit. The peaceful Adagio also opens with an orchestral page, famous for the beautiful oboe melody that unfolds there and is taken up by the violin. The violinist Pablo de Sarasate, who refused to play the concerto on the pretext that it did not show off his instrument enough, had declared about this melody that it was the only one that was successful in the work. An Allegro giocoso, non troppo vivace, with Hungarian accents, as exuberant as it is energetic, incredibly virtuoso, closes the score. The work was premiered in Leipzig by Joachim with the Gewandhaus orchestra under the direction of the composer on January 1, 1879. "By paying homage to his friend with a work that is perfectly worthy of Joachim's great talent," wrote Dörfel, critic for the Leipziger Nachrichten, "Brahms has measured himself to a task in which he equals the two masterpieces of the genre, Beethoven and Mendelssohn. We will admit that we awaited the test with a few heartbeats (...); but what joy we felt." The two friends performed the Concerto again in Budapest and Vienna, before Joachim became its champion throughout Europe. #Violin #Brahms #HilaryHahn #OrchestrePhilharmoniquedeRadiofrance #MikkoFranck ----------------------- ⭐ NEW ⭐ understand and explore music with the new France Musique YouTube channel: / @francemusique ???? Remember to subscribe to discover other France Musique videos! / @francemusiqueconcerts Discover all of France Musique: ► Website - https://www.radiofrance.fr/francemusique ► Concerts Area - https://www.radiofrance.fr/concerts ► Newsletters - https://www.radiofrance.fr/francemusi... Follow us on social media: ► Facebook - / francemusique ► Twitter - https://twitter.com/francemusique?lan... ► Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/francemusiq... ► TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@francemusique...