Korngold | Brahms | Sibelius
Symphonic worlds for everyone – symphony concerts with digital access
Symphonic worlds for everyone is a project that opens up classical music to everyone – regardless of location, time or the possibility of attending live performances. Thanks to online broadcasts, symphony concerts are becoming accessible to a wide audience, allowing them to immerse themselves in the sound of the orchestra and experience the beauty of music at the highest level. The project emphasises the idea of accessibility of art as a common good and an invitation to the world of sounds, emotions and imagination.
The three compositions of the concert showcase the late aspects of the neo-Romantic style with its rich expression – the elegiac, nostalgic colours and moods of Brahms and Sibelius will be confronted with the youthful enthusiasm of the teenage genius Erich Wolfgang Korngold, who was soon to become a star, although his fame was not to last.
Johannes Brahms composed his Double Concerto in A minor in 1887 as his last major orchestral work and a personal gesture of reconciliation with the legendary violinist Joseph Joachim. Their relationship was overshadowed by certain conflicts, but the concert – featuring Joachim and cellist Robert Hausmann – became a symbol of their renewed friendship. After its premiere in Cologne, the work was received rather coolly, but over time it came to be appreciated for its emotional depth and distinctive, nostalgic and melancholic tone. This is not a virtuoso display, but a dialogue between two instruments, in which Brahms reveals his mature, focused style – introspection rather than drama. The concert is considered to be the artistic epilogue to the composer's symphonic oeuvre. The solo parts will be performed by outstanding virtuosos: violinist Karolina Nowotczyńska, concertmaster and director of the Elbląg Chamber Orchestra, and Palina Horbach, concertmaster of our orchestra's cellos.
The First Symphony by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius is not, however, a prologue to his symphonic work, as he had already premiered several acclaimed symphonic poems. He graduated in 1899 in Helsinki, during a period of growing political tension in Finland under Russian rule. The piece was the first step towards the independent symphonic language of the composer, who later became a master of this form. Although critics saw influences of Tchaikovsky in his work, even then the blossoming of the 35-year-old composer's own idiom was evident: dense, raw and full of drama. The 1900 revision, performed during the Finnish orchestra's European tour, brought him international fame. The symphony became a musical symbol of the awakening Finnish identity – not through references to traditional music, but through its distinctive “northern” tone combining heroism and pride with nostalgia and melancholy.
The youngest of the three composers, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, was only thirteen when his ballet-pantomime Der Schneemann, orchestrated by his teacher Alexander Zemlinsky, was performed at the Vienna Court Opera in 1910. The piece was met with enthusiasm, and the young composer was hailed as a prodigy (even the “Mozart of the 20th century”); this success marked the beginning of his brilliant career. This light, fairy-tale story about a snowman that comes to life foreshadowed the later, lyrical and theatrical style of Korngold, one of the last romantics of the 20th century, remembered especially as a composer of film music (two Oscars).
The concert will be conducted by Mirian Khukhunaishvili, a Georgian conductor pursuing an international career. He is the co-founder and director of the Tbilisi Youth Orchestra. The distinguished conductor Christoph Eschenbach honoured him with the prestigious Ringmann-Jaross Award. He has conducted numerous orchestras from various countries around the world and has been a frequent guest in Poland (in 2020, he obtained a doctorate in conducting from the Academy of Music in Kraków). He is the principal conductor of the Elbląg Chamber Orchestra, and since September 2025, he has been the music director of the Wrocław Opera.
More: Calendar
The concert is broadcast on the YouTube channel and on the website www.sinfoniaiuventus.pl
The project is being implemented with funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (KPO) for culture 2025.
Funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
