The Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier reunites with its musical director Roderick Cox for an all-Brahms evening at Le Corum. South Korean pianist Sunwook Kim joins as soloist, bringing both power and transparency to his playing.
The programme opens with Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 1 (1858), a stormy, symphonically ambitious work from the composer's youth — almost a dramatic poem in which the piano and orchestra lock in struggle. The piece was born out of personal anguish and dedicated to his friend Robert Schumann.
The second half features Brahms's Symphony No. 2, composed two decades later in full creative maturity. In contrast to the concerto, the symphony radiates warmth, pastoral light, and a gently melancholic smile — a journey from tempest to serenity within a single composer's genius.
Lineup
Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier
The Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier Occitanie is the resident orchestra and choir of Montpellier, here conducted by Roderick Cox in a staged production of Carmina Burana directed by Anne Lopez with lighting by Mathieu Cabanes.
Sunwook Kim
South Korean pianist who rose to prominence as a revelation at the Leeds Competition at the age of 18, Sunwook Kim is now regarded as a major international soloist, known for a touch that combines power with transparency.
Roderick Cox
Roderick Cox is the musical director of the Orchestre national Montpellier Occitanie and conducts this production of Carmina Burana.
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