Absolute music is music that is purely for music's sake; there's not a story to tell, just sound to move us. Program music attempts to tell a story or be descriptive, like "Pictures at an Exhibition".
The "Rach" 3rd Piano Concerto was written Summer of 1909 and is considered to be one of the most dificult of all piano concertos!
In Spring 2015 the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra was one of the guest ensembles at the Shaghai Spring International Festival...they play SIbelius' 5th Symphony on tonight's concert.
Shostakovich wrote his "Cello Concerto No. 1" in 1959 for MStislav Rostropovich. It is considered to be one of the most difficult cello concertos ever written.
Riccardo Muti brings us three symphonies tonight: one by Prokofiev, one by Scriabin and one by Beethoven.
