An evening with Isabelle Faust & Thomas Dausgaard

Tivoli Copenhagen Phil

Conductor: Thomas Dausgaard
Soloist: Isabelle Faust, violin

In the Tivoli Concert Hall, allow yourself to be enveloped in soft, dark red musical velvet as Tivoli Copenhagen Phil plunges into what is perhaps the most romantic of all symphonies: Rachmaninov’s magnificent Symphony No. 2, where one warm, heartfelt melody follows another in an irresistible flow.

Written at a time when melody was beginning to fall out of fashion, it feels as if Rachmaninov is trying to squeeze every last beautiful tune out of music before it is too late. His richly expressive symphony sits comfortably somewhere between classical music and more popular styles, and even when it was first performed, it already seemed a little old-fashioned. But quality always wins in the end, and today the work is a firm favourite in concert halls around the world, loved for its long, sweeping musical lines.

The final movement bubbles with energy and joy, bringing to mind the feel-good spirit of a 1950s Rodgers & Hammerstein musical. Rachmaninov’s melodies are so memorable that they have been absorbed into countless genres – from jazz and musical theatre to rock and pop. Here, however,

you can hear them as they were originally written: in full symphonic sound, played by a finely tuned Tivoli Copenhagen Phil.

The concert opens with Schumann’s Violin Concerto – the last piece the troubled composer wrote before losing his mental health. The work was kept secret for exactly 100 years, as Schumann’s friends felt the world was not yet ready for its unusual sound. Today we are more than ready, and in the hands of the brilliant Isabelle Faust – one of the most generous and versatile violinists on the international stage – the audiences can discover a truly special and haunting work.