© 2024 Milwaukee Public Media is a service of UW-Milwaukee's College of Letters & Science
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

A Brahms Birthday Celebration

Jesse Willems
/
MSO

This weekend marks the 183rd birthday of the composer Johannes Brahms.  The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra celebrates that birthday with performances of both his third and fourth symphonies with one program.

Between rehearsals, Music Director of the MSO, Maestro Edo de Waart, explained his love of Brahms and why he is excited to conduct it this year.

"Brahms is great for when you're young. Young people usually love Brahms," he notes. "... then halfway through your life he disappears for a little bit. You discover Mahler, or whatever, and then [Brahms] comes back again, and it is like seeing wonderful old family back that you had." 

de Waart finds Brahms' compositions to be "incredible, humane music" and "full of beautiful statements about...feelings, maybe nature."

"It speaks to me." he says. He has re-engaged with the music in the past 15 years and says that whenever he is asked to do a Brahms symphony, he answers with an emphatic "yes."

de Waart is also looking forward to the music planned for next season: "There's not a note in there that I don't really love." The 2016-17 will be his last as the MSO's music director, after which he'll take the title of Conductor Laureate.

The MSO’s Brahms Festival is Friday morning and Saturday night at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.

Bonnie North
Bonnie joined WUWM in March 2006 as the Arts Producer of the locally produced weekday magazine program Lake Effect.