Pinchas Zukerman: Violin + Brahms = Violin Concerto

Tonight at 7:00 on The Evening Concert it’s the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Maestro Riccardo Muti conducts. Pinchas Zukerman is the soloist in Brahm’s “Violin Concerto”. Also on the program,

Brahms’ “genial” 2nd Symphony and Haydn’s 89th Symphony.

Riccardo Muti, cond.; *Pinchas Zukerman, violin
*BRAHMS: Violin Concerto in D, op. 77
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 2 in D, op.73
HAYDN: Symphony No. 89 in F

The Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 is a violin concerto in three movements composed by Johannes Brahms in 1878 and dedicated to his friend, the violinist Joseph Joachim. It is Brahms's only violin concerto, and, according to Joachim, one of the four great German violin concerti.
“The Germans have four violin concertos. The greatest, most uncompromising is Beethoven's. The one by Brahms vies with it in seriousness. The richest, the most seductive, was written by Max Bruch. But the most inward, the heart's jewel, is Mendelssohn's." (per wikipedia)

Brahms venerated Beethoven: in the composer's home, a marble bust of Beethoven looked down on the spot where he composed, and some passages in his works are reminiscent of Beethoven's style. (Swafford, Jan. "Johannes Brahms: A Biography." Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1997) [have you read this?  I understand it is the definitive biography of Brahms....additionally, what are the odds that Brahms chose the key of D Major for his Second Symphony? (hint,  Beethoven's Second Symphony is also in D Major). I think the odds are pretty good....Vincent Trauth]

The Haydn Symphony No. 89 in F (1787) uses music from previously composed "Lira" Concerti ([Brown, A. Peter, The Symphonic Repertoire (Volume 2). Indiana University Press (ISBN 025333487X), pp. 230-233 (2002).]

{Vincent Trauth is the programmer and producer of "The Evening Concert" from WILL}