Edo de Waart celebrates 80th birthday with Brahms' Symphony No. 2

Edo de Waart celebrates his 80th birthday with works by Brahms. With the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra he conducts, among others, the Second Symphony. There is also Nänie, sung by the Groot Omroepkoor.

Brahms

Brahms takes centre stage this morning in a concert full of zest for life and reflection on death. The Groot Omroepkoor sings the beautiful Nänie with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra . Brahms set to music a poem by Schiller about mourning, but also about consolation. In Gesang der Parzen he seeks out a darker side of the subject, full of drama and powerful movements. Incidentally, Brahms liked to joke about his interest in the dark side of life. He told several people that his Second Symphony would be top-heavy. That as a composer he would be better off wearing a mourning band. The opposite proved true: in the Second, Brahms shows his disarming, high-spirited side.

Edo de Waart

Shortly before his 80th birthday, Edo de Waart is leading the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. He was the orchestra's principal for a long time. In Het Parool De Waart said: 'With that orchestra I had the best time of my life'. Now he is an honorary guest conductor. To a newspaper, De Waart described Brahms' compositions as 'incredibly human'.