Nézet-Séguin and Batiashvili in romantic moods

Lisa Batiashvili, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and its former chief Yannick Nézet-Séguin delve into the late-romantic Bruckner and Szymanowski.

Yannick conducts Bruckner's Wagner symphony'.
The Third Symphony, especially the original version conducted by Yannick, can be called Bruckner's greatest declaration of love to Richard Wagner. Striking are the many Wagner quotes, the relatively even, round orchestration and the general pauses that keep the structure clear. Most striking is the balance in the musical structure. Here it becomes clear that Bruckner was already a self-willed symphonist in this fairly early phase of his musical career.

Lisa Batiashvili and the fairy-tale Szymanowski
Despite all the early modern, post-Wagnerian harmony, Karol Szymanowski's one-movement First Violin Concerto from 1916 is much more light-footed, almost fairytale-like and playful. The soloist's distinctly lyrical part reaches to rarefied heights, the orchestra dances and hops around it. It tells a story from which you cannot tell for a moment that in those days a destructive war was raging and the Polish composer had to leave his home in the Ukraine. A story to be enjoyed breathlessly with the playing of Lisa Batiashvili!