Brahms’s Serenade No.2 introduces an unexpected sight to a Sydney Symphony concert: an orchestra without violins. Instead, the violas are given the lead, the woodwinds and horns are placed in vivid relief, and the music takes on a rich, autumnal colour.

This serenade is one of Brahms’s earliest forays into symphonic music and it caught him in a blissful mood: “I have seldom written music with such delight.”

The dreamy musings of Brahms are followed by Mozart’s longest and most magnificent piano concerto – profoundly inventive and expansive in feeling. In this concert, Geoffrey Lancaster returns to the City Recital Hall stage, bringing his flawless technique and bold musical vision to the music of a Classical genius.

BRAHMS Serenade No.2
MOZART Piano Concerto No.25 in C, K503

Geoffrey Lancaster piano-director
Roger Benedict viola-director

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING
Track 1 – BRAHMS Serenade No.2:  Scherzo
Track 2 – BRAHMS Serenade No.2:  Rondo
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Kurt Masur
PHILIPS ELOQUENCE 442 8298

Track 3 – MOZART Piano Concerto No.25 in C, K503:  1st movement
Track 4 – MOZART Piano Concerto No.25 in C, K503:  3rd movement
Géza Anda (piano), Camerata Academica of the Salzburg Mozarteum
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON ELOQUENCE 463 236-2

Audio kindly supplied by Universal Music.