Brahms’ concerto stands as one of the largest and most challenging works in the solo violin repertoire, a work which shows the two opposite sides of his creative mind – Brahms the song writer and Brahms the symphonist. It is a song for the violin on a symphonic scale – a lyrical outpouring of joyous energy from its confident yet wistful opening to fiery finish. A pure musical drama for the ear, Henk de Vlieger’s symphonic synthesis of Wagner’s tale of doomed love still fully conveys the opera’s stoic nobility as originally intended. In one continuous sweeping hour of sheer unadulterated passion, at the centre of which stands the incomparable Act II love scene, the key themes of anticipation, longing, rapture, separation, hope, death, and transfiguration are expressed solely through orchestral forces.