Edo de Waart celebrates 80th birthday with Brahms' Symphony No. 2

Edo de Waart celebrates his 80th birthday with works by Brahms. With the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, he conducts the Second Symphony, among other works. Also heard is Nänie, sung by the Groot Omroepkoor.

Brahms

Brahms takes center stage this morning in a concert full of zest for life and reflection on death. The Groot Omroepkoor sings the beautiful Nänie with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra . Brahms set to music a poem by Schiller about mourning, but above all about consolation. In Gesang der Parzen, he seeks a darker side of the subject, full of drama and powerful movements. Incidentally, Brahms liked to joke about his interest in the dark side of life. He told several people that his Second symphony would be top-heavy. That as a composer he would be better off wearing a mourning band. The opposite proved true: in the Second, Brahms shows his disarming, high-spirited side.

Edo de Waart

Shortly before his 80th birthday, Edo de Waart leads the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. There he was chief for a long time. In Het Parool, De Waart said, "With that orchestra I had the best time of my life. Now he is honorary guest conductor. To a newspaper, De Waart described Brahms' compositions as "incredibly human.