When Ernő Dohnányi, already living in Florida, began planning the composition of his American Rhapsody in 1953, he was inspired by the works of Franz Liszt and George Gershwin. Yet he may also have recalled the great Czech composer Antonín Dvořák, whose famous New World Symphony, although containing not a single authentic American folk tune, was nevertheless inspired by them sixty years earlier.
The astonishingly developing and modernizing “New World” brought fresh impulses to music, just as the voices of patriotic movements introduced new inspirations of their own. Edvard Grieg’s only piano concerto, famous for its instantly recognizable opening bars, reflects the influence of Norwegian folk music.
The evening’s conductor, Maxim Rysanov, is widely known as a world-famous violist, though he appears on the conductor’s podium with increasing frequency. The soloist in Grieg’s concerto will be Anastasia Volchok, a virtuoso interpreter of the Romantic repertoire.
Photo: Maxim Rysanov © László Emmer
