Ulster Orchestra presents Dvorak’s Sixth at the Ulster Hall 28 February 2020 with talented Conductor Jac van Steen.
Schumann’s Piano Concerto is a love story. It originally started life as a Phantasie, written for his then-fiancée Clara Wieck, and her diary records that ‘carefully studied, it must give the greatest pleasure to those who hear it.

The Phantasie did not gain popularity after its première, given by Clara (by now Schumann’s wife). But his approach and this innovative interweaving of soloist and orchestra were too good to waste and Schumann set about transforming it into this very lovely ‘symphonic’ concerto, once again premièred by the person who, more than anyone else, championed his work – Clara.

Dvorák’s Bohemian origins are to the fore in the Sixth Symphony, which could easily be billed as his ‘Pastoral’: joyous, lyrical, atmospheric, like a summer’s walk in a Bohemian wood. Its slow movement ‘sings of the magic of a summer’s night’, while the third sparkles with the joy of a popular Czech dance, the furiant, and the work secured him international fame.

Wagner Overture: Tannhäuser
Schumann Piano Concerto
Dvorák Symphony No. 6
Jac van Steen Conductor
Hannes Minnaar Piano