NSO: Chin, Bruch, Beethoven

National Symphony Orchestra
Jonathon Heyward conductor
Luka Faulisi violin  

Unsuk Chin Subito con forza [Irish Premiere]
Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1
Beethoven Symphony No. 5

Two unmissable NSO debuts – Luka Faulisi, violinist with ‘a million-dollar sound’ (Pinchas Zukerman), and conductor Jonathon Heyward, ‘a genius that will illuminate concert halls for decades to come’ (Baltimore Sun) – with two towering masterpieces in the rich romance of Bruch’s First Violin Concerto and explosive rush of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, and the Irish premiere of Unsuk Chin’s spiky, sassy Subito con forza, a thrilling miniature putting Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture through the wringer to brilliant effect.

Did you know?

The four-note opening of Beethoven’s Fifth has been famously described as ‘fate knocking at the door’.

The motif was used by the BBC as a call-sign during the Second World War.

Of the three Violin Concertos Bruch wrote only the first has gained popularity, leading some to call him, unfairly, a ‘one-hit wonder’.

Listen out for…

How Bruch’s virtuosic violin rises and soars above the orchestra like a skylark in summer skies with aching romance in the middle movement, gloriously triumphant in the finale.

The addition of trombones, piccolo and contrabassoon in the finale of Beethoven’s Fifth that took the symphony to new heights, and the headlong rush into the euphoric finale that provides blazing light in contrast to its dour opening.  

Presented by NCH