Johannes Brahms
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77

Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141

Alena Baeva – violin
Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava
Daniel Raiskin – Chief Conductor of JPO

The 19th century can be regarded as the golden age of virtuosos who, following the example of Paganini, travelled across Europe showcasing their technical mastery to audiences. Yet there were also those who were irritated by mere display virtuosity and, inspired by Beethoven, aspired to higher artistic goals. One of them was the German composer Johannes Brahms. In 1878, for his lifelong friend Joseph Joachim—one of the greatest violinists of his time—he composed, amid the natural surroundings of Austria’s Lake Wörthersee, a work that became a milestone among Romantic violin concertos. Brahms’s concerto, whose intellectual depth approaches that of a symphony, is not only a supreme artistic achievement but also an interpretative challenge for the soloist.

The Fifteenth Symphony of 1971 concludes the symphonic output of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich. One of the most significant symphonists of the 20th century, he conceived it as a retrospective of his life’s work. In the manner of a collage, he enriched it with quotations and references to important composers and their works throughout music history. Shostakovich’s symphonic epilogue captivates with its masterful handling of the orchestral palette, which becomes a source of dramatic, emotionally rich, and philosophically profound musical expression.