Brahms’s Second at Saffron Hall

The music

• Beethoven Leonore Overture No. 3
• Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1
• Brahms Symphony No. 2

The performers

• Edward Gardner conductor*
• Yeol Eum Son piano

Music has never seemed so alive as in these three nineteenth-century masterpieces.

Tchaikovsky’s flamboyant concerto is swept along on a tide of impassioned melodies and scintillating piano fireworks. Brahms’ symphony sings and dances to a different tune, propelled by a lyrical charm, panache and sunny high spirits; “the melodies fly so thick here that you have to be careful not to step on one” deadpanned Brahms whilst writing it at an idyllic lakeside retreat. Beethoven distils the essence of his only opera Fidelio into the standalone overture, from the claustrophobia and despair of imprisonment to a jubilant celebration of love and freedom.

_{Shuttle bus:
Pre-show shuttle bus will be operating from Audley End Station to Saffron Hall. This service is free to use, with no need to book in advance}