Maria João Pires plays Mozart

When Maria João Pires takes her place at the piano and leads you into Mozart’s sound world, you simply lose track of time. You can’t get any closer to the composer than this! The ‘Jeunehomme’ concerto is named after the amateur pianist Victoire Jenamy – a discovery not made until 2004 – rather than referring to Mozart’s own youth at the time of its composition.

Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8

Honorary guest conductor Iván Fischer also leads the Concertgebouw Orchestra in two works brimming with optimism, joie de vivre and a love of nature. Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony is a work of mature mastery. The composer had achieved international fame and was at the height of his powers when he wrote it. And as his operatic ambitions grew, so did the dramatic quality of his symphonies, as the richly varied Eighth demonstrates. Marsyas by Alphons Diepenbrock, the Dutch classicist turned composer, is a fine rarity. Diepenbrock stayed true to classically Greek themes, as in his incidental music about a faun who challenges the gods to a musical duel. Performed here is the Entr’acte, nicknamed ‘Zwerftochten door het woud’ (Wandering Through the Forest).