Wiener Symphoniker / Wang / Wellber

The brilliant pianist Yuja Wang returns to perform one of the most technically demanding works for piano with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Omer Meir Wellber: Sergei Prokofiev's 2nd Piano Concerto. First performed by the composer in St. Petersburg in 1913, the composition combines romantic elements with expressionistic ones and sparkles with spectacular sound power.

English symphonic music
The second half of the concert sets a more conciliatory mood with Edward Elgar's noble and solemn opening Symphony No. 1, which was first performed in Manchester in 1908, five years before the premiere of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto. Elgar had only composed it in Rome at the age of 51, with great respect for the symphonic genre. Technically, the works of Richard Wagner, who never wrote a symphony himself, exerted a strong influence on the composer. With over 80 performances worldwide within a year of its composition, Elgar's First was a major breakthrough for English symphonic music. It has only been performed three times at the Wiener Konzerthaus.