Danish National Symphony Orchestra

Beethoven himself premiered his Piano Concerto in G major as the soloist on 22 December 1808 at the Theater an der Wien. Almost 220 years later, it is still revolutionary in its own way: «The very idea of starting a piano concerto like this!» says Rudolf Buchbinder, referring to the opening of the concerto with a piano solo: «It is such an intimate, romantic piece, felt with the deepest soul.» Someone who always engages deeply with music is Fabio Luisi, who is performing with his Danish National Symphony Orchestra in Grafenegg for the second time since 2018. They will be presenting Brahms through the eyes of Arnold Schoenberg, who orchestrated the Piano Quartet in G minor op. 25 for large orchestra while in exile in America. «You don’t even want to listen to the original quartet anymore, that’s how beautiful the arrangement sounds» enthused the premiere conductor Otto Klemperer in 1938.