Conductor David Afkham

Tetzlaff Plays Brahms Violin Concerto

Thu May 30 — Sat Jun 1, 2024

Orchestra Hall

~2 hours, including intermission

A trio of German musical stars arrives at Orchestra Hall when violinist Christian Tetzlaff returns to play the music of Johannes Brahms under the baton of conductor David Afkham. Brahms’ fiendishly difficult Violin Concerto sways between moments of peaceful serenity and dark, stormy scenes, standing boldly as the opening to this kaleidoscopic concert, which also features colorful works by Dutilleux and Bartók.

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A Few Things to Know

Christian Tetzlaff most recently performed with the Minnesota Orchestra in March of 2020 and for the season finale in 2016. About the latter concert, Michael Anthony for the Star Tribune said "Tetzlaff gave these final pages an appropriately elegiac character, with poised and elegant tone, as if the sound were bathed in a delicate light conveying a sense of profound nostalgia and regret."
David Afkham, who studied violin and piano from the age of six, also comes from a musical family. His brother Micha Afkham is currently a violist in the Berlin Philharmonic.
Métaboles is the musical result of Henri Dutilleux’s exploration of metamorphosis, playing with the idea of dramatic transformation caused by slow and gradual changes.
The 1926 premiere of Bartók’s The Miraculous Mandarin in Cologne, Germany, was considered so scandalous that the city’s mayor blocked any further performances, and efforts to produce it in Budapest five years later—in celebration of the composer’s 50th birthday—ran into such opposition that they had to be canceled.

Explore the concert extras

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Date & Time

Program

BRAHMS

Violin Concerto
1 min note

One Minute Note

One of the most beloved works for violin and orchestra, this concerto is breathtaking in its musical scope. It is also fiendishly difficult to play—requiring great technical prowess—thanks in part to the soloist for whom Brahms intended it: his friend Joseph Joachim, whose influence shows
especially in passages asking for tenths, an interval requiring nimble hands.
DUTILLEUX

Cinq Métaboles
1 min note

One Minute Note

Métaboles explores the concept of transition, with five continuous movements reflecting various aspects of change. This piece marked a turning point in Dutilleux’s career, incorporating unique structural experiments and soloistic percussion.
BARTÓK

Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin
1 min note

One Minute Note

The Miraculous Mandarin was a failure at its 1926 premiere, as audiences, press, civic leaders and the Catholic Church called it shockingly immoral. Bartók insisted the story was a cautionary and allegorical tale of the conflict between good and evil, with an outcome of real beauty. The music, condensed into a suite, can be appreciated on its own terms: brilliant, hard-edged, rhythmic and powerful.

Full Program Notes

Artists

Minnesota Orchestra

David Afkham

conductor

Christian Tetzlaff

violin

Plan your visit

Pre-concert activities
Valet Parking
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Directions & Parking
Helpful Tips

Pre-concert performance

When: May 30 - June 1 | 45 minutes prior
Where: Target Atrium

The Guanchez-Nikiforov Duo presents A New Home: Music by Immigrant Composers. This program centers around the ways in which immigration has shaped the lives of musicians, their parents and/or their people. Featuring music by George Gershwin, György Ligeti and Sergei Rachmaninoff, among others, join pianists Ines Guanchez and Osip Nikiforov in exploring music that reflects the experience of traveling to unfamiliar lands to build a better life.

Know Before You Go

An engaging performance awaits, and the fun doesn’t stop there. Make this visit your own with food and activity options. Browse these helpful tips, and when your concert date arrives, all you have to do is sit back and enjoy.

Directions & Parking

All the information you need to know for getting to and from Orchestra Hall. Parking is just steps away from Orchestra Hall in the city-owned and skyway-connected 11th and Marquette Ramp.