Faust plays Beethoven

Isabelle Faust is one of the finest violinists of the present day and a familiar face to Icelandic concertgoers, many of whom remember her outstanding performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto in spring 2019. She was also Artist-in-Residence with the ISO during the 2010-2011 season. Faust appears regularly with the Berlin Philharmonic, and in 2017 her recordings of Mozart's violin concerti received the Gramophone Award for Best Recording of the Year. On this programme she performs Beethoven's Violin Concerto.

Gustav Mahler wrote works that were massive in scale, and his Symphony no. 5 is no exception. Indeed, the modernism that characterised music from around the year 1900 has sometimes been called “maximalism”, referring to the tendency towards ever larger pieces. Premiered in 1904, right in the middle of this period, “Mahler Five” touches the hearts of all who hear it, with its powerful opening, the magnificent horn solo in the third movement, and the haunting fourth movement (Adagietto), which is often performed by itself. Eva Ollikainen is at the podium, in a sequel to her outstanding interpretation of Mahler's Symphony no. 1 at the ISO's seventieth anniversary concert in spring 2020.

 *Dvořák's Violin Concerto was originally included in the programme and the concert was called Faust plays Dvořák. Due to changes in the program, the concert is now called Faust plays Beethoven.