Belgian National Orchestra, Schønwandt & Widmann

About the Event

Mozart thinks freely, Berlioz thinks theatrically, Beethoven thinks radically. They heard differently, thought more deeply, and rewrote the rules of their time. In his Fifth Violin Concerto, Mozart gives voice to freedom. The violin sounds neither solemn nor formal, but dreamy and bold, as if the music were inventing itself in the moment. Here, beauty is not mere ornamentation, but imagination in motion—full of humor, surprise, and cosmopolitan curiosity, crowned by the famous “Turkish” episode. With Beethoven, this freedom becomes a necessity. Two uncompromising chords in the “Eroica” throw open the door to something entirely new. This is no longer music for salons or courts, but a personal statement, driven by tension, conflict, dynamism, and ambition. Romanticism begins here not as a style, but as an attitude. And then there is Hector Berlioz, the visionary who understood that music can also be theater and color. In “Béatrice et Bénédict,” his urge to let the orchestra speak through untamed contrasts and emotions is already fully present. Under the baton of Michael Schønwandt and featuring the internationally acclaimed violinist Carolin Widmann, this concert pays tribute to composers who did not follow their time, but rather led the way.