Frankfurter Museums-Gesellschaft e.V.

English conductor Alexander Soddy has included a crowd favorite from Norway and two works from his native England on the program for his museum debut. He opens the concert with a rediscovery: a work by the English composer and pianist Dorothy Gertrude Howell. Her symphonic poem *Lamia*, which premiered to great acclaim in 1919, is still regularly featured in the BBC Proms.

Several works by the English composer Edward Elgar are part of the standard repertoire on the continent as well, even though his two symphonies are performed rather rarely. Yet even his First Symphony is a masterpiece of musical architecture. A leitmotif runs through the entire work, building to a grand climax at the end of the symphony. The 1908 premiere was a huge success and, according to the Daily Mail, “The Musical Event of the Year.”

Edvard Grieg had come to Leipzig at the age of 15 to emulate his idol, Robert Schumann. At the age of 25, he wrote his Piano Concerto, which can certainly be regarded as a tribute to Schumann—from the key of A-flat minor, through the opening of the first movement and the main theme introduced by the winds, right down to the melodic details. Yet the music also evokes associations with Norwegian nature, and it becomes distinctly Norwegian in the final movement, when the piano strikes up the rhythm of the “Halling” dance.

Dorothy Howell (1898–1982): Lamia – Symphonic Poem
Edvard Grieg (1843–1907): Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16
Edward Elgar (1857–1934): Symphony No. 1 in A-flat major, Op. 55


Photo: Uwe Arens

September 20, 11:00 a.m., and September 21, 7:30 p.m. (A concert introduction with Klaus Albert Bauer will take place one hour before each performance in the Grand Hall)

Alte Oper, Main Hall, Opernplatz 1, Frankfurt

2-for-1: Price Category 1 = 77 €, Price Category 2 = 67 € (Tickets subject to availability)

Sept. 17–19, Advance ticket sales at the Alte Oper, Mon–Fri 10 a.m.–6:30 p.m. & Sat 10 a.m.–2 p.m., tickets subject to availability