Musical Sunday

Piano concerto, set of variations, rhapsody? Sergei Rachmaninov’s op. 43 has a bit of everything. Composed in Switzerland in 1934, the work is based on Paganini’s famous A minor Caprice, which had already inspired Brahms and Liszt to write variations. Rachmaninov turns it into something very special: Romantic, voluptuous, but also grotesque and humorous episodes pass by in rapid succession. And as if that were not enough, the music also tells a story of seduction, death and damnation.

Two music enthusiasts dive deep into the respective works with the audience: Marcus Imbsweiler is a writer and musicologist; Timo Jouko Herrmann composes, plays the violin and is guest conductor of the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra. They published the conversations of the first twenty Musical Sundays in their joint book Beziehungszauber. Classical masterpieces under the microscope (2024).