Return, farewell, and longing: Hans Graf, one of the closest musical companions of the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Lower Austria, conducts a program that delves deeply into stories of exile, love of home, and musical passion.
Sergei Rachmaninoff was denied a return to his homeland after he was forced to leave Russia in 1917. In exile in America, he expressed this longing musically in his large-scale Third Symphony. The only completed movement from hisYouth Symphony forms a poignant contrast to this. A few years after Rachmaninoff's Third, Paul Hindemith's Violin Concerto was composed in 1939, a work that also tells of emigration and longing. Violinist Ziyu He, born in 1999, makes his musical debut with this gripping work.
Ziyu He was one of the youngest soloists of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra when he made his debut at the Musikverein under Adam Fischer at the age of just 18. He now performs as a soloist with internationally renowned orchestras. Hans Graf was principal conductor of the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg from 1984 to 1994. Today, numerous top orchestras count themselves among the conductor's musical partners.
April 13, 2026
