A New Season and a Thrilling Debut

Virtuoso violinist Paul Huang, winner of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, is acclaimed for the hypnotic sound he draws from his 1742 Stradivarius. He makes his debut at the Palau de la Música Catalana with Korngold’s magical Violin Concerto.

This will be followed by a performance of Tchaikovsky’s moving Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique”, from the Franz Schubert Filharmonia and Tomàs Grau. A season-opener of pure emotion and excellence.

Music of Sincerity

Tchaikovsky said he had shed many tears while composing his Sixth Symphony. Its “Pathétique” subtitle reflects the melancholy vein that pervades the work as a whole, including the finale, which seems to invite introspective reflection more than it does rousing applause. “To me,” wrote the composer, “it will seem quite natural, and not in the least astonishing, if this Symphony meets with abuse, or scant appreciation at first. I certainly regard it as quite the best – and especially the ‘most sincere’ – of all my works.” At first, the Sixth had a somewhat negative reception, perhaps because of its rawness and intensity, but over time it established itself as one of the most beautiful, dramatic and well-constructed symphonies in history.

Korngold achieved great success as a film composer in 1940s Hollywood, putting his mastery of the symphonic idiom at the service of the silver screen. His late Romantic style was the perfect match for the movies of the day, and several of his film themes found their way into his Violin Concerto, which he said was written with “a Caruso of the violin rather than a Paganini” in mind.