Dansons-Nous

LET'S DANCE, BRAHMS? "Clara alone, for a decade, or with Johannes or Joseph, often ends her concerts with a bouquet of these irresistible flaming or languorous Hungarian Dances, with elastic, syncopated, swaying rhythm and cymbalum effects*. "Brigitte François-Sappey.

This concert emphasizes Johannes Brahms, and particularly his Third Symphony and Hungarian Dances. The German composer was over forty when he wrote, in just over a decade, his four symphonies (1876-1885).

And if the Third is by far the least performed in concert, it's also the most known, because the third movement was used in the soundtrack to the film "Do You Like Brahms? ", shot in 1960s Paris, with Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Perkins, and Yves Montand.

Composed in Wiesbaden, it premiered in Vienna on 2 December 1883 by Hans Richter. The conductor immediately gave it the nickname, as a tribute to Ludwig van Beethoven, of "heroic".

As for Hungarian Dances, published by Simrock in the very late 1860s, they have no opus number, because Johannes Brahms claimed no authority over them, considering himself rather an arranger of themes he had collected from Hungarian violinist Ede Reményi.

While in Prague, Antonín Dvořák made a name for himself in the 1870s for performing a hymn that earned him a position as organist and professor at the Conservatory.

But he owes his recognition as composer to Johannes Brahms: it was to him he owes his meeting with Simrock and distribution of his work in Central Europe**. Musical Direction Thomas Hengelbrück. Paris Chamber Orchestra. Johannes Brahms Symphony no 3 in F major, op. 90.

Antonín Dvořák Slavic Dances, op. 46 and 72 (excerpts). Johannes Brahms Hungarian Dances, op. deest (excerpts).