In the Kölner Philharmonie's season opening concert, Klaus Mäkelä and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra will perform Béla Bartók's »Concerto for Orchestra«, among other works. This piece, the last Bartók was able to complete before his death on 26 September 1945, became one of his best known and premiered in Boston on 1 December 1944.
Serge Koussevitzky, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, persuaded Bartók, who was in hospital at the time, to compose the work by bringing him a cheque for $1,000 and commissioning him to write a large symphonic work. The idea of giving the ailing Bartók new hope worked: Bartók completed the composition in six weeks, during which time his health improved significantly.
Christoph Vratz explains what makes Bartók's most popular orchestral piece so special and why it finally brought him his breakthrough in America in the Kölner Philharmonie podcast.