Close-up Concertgebouw Orchestra: From the Old World

Dvořák, Korngold en Eisler

The US Declaration of Independence was signed 250 years ago. With its emphasis on freedom and equality, it would serve as the blueprint for new democracies. Our musicians are celebrating this historic document with performances of works by composers who temporarily traded in old Europe for the New World, the land of endless possibilities. The Czech composer Dvořák was invited to teach composition in New York, where he drew inspiration from the people and the landscape, as is obvious in his ‘American’ string quintet. The Frenchman Varèse sought and found artistic freedom in the US in 1915 – and went on to inspire American innovators. Korngold, Toch and Eisler fled the anti-Semitism and Nazism of the 1930s to build careers in the States. There they wrote music teeming with a renewed energy, optimism – and hope for a free Europe.

Close-up

Musicians of the Concertgebouw Orchestra perform their own programmes in the Recital Hall as part of the Close-up chamber music series. Each of these concerts is unique and performed only once as part of the series. It’s the very best way to experience the individual qualities of the orchestral musicians! These intimate concerts are organised by the Friends of the Concertgebouw and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.