Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen / Martijn Dendievel

Traditions can offer a sense of stability in times of change - a familiar ritual that connects people and creates a shared identity. At the same time, they can become rigid or exclusionary. The great masters in this programme show another way: they honour tradition while engaging in a lively dialogue with it.

As the international Beethoven Year begins, the composer who bridged classicism and romanticism cannot be overlooked. His Piano Concerto No. 4 was daring at its premiere: instead of an orchestral opening, the work begins with a gentle piano solo - a remarkable choice for its time.

Schumann also starts with tradition. In his Rhenish Symphony, he embraces the classical symphonic model, inspired by the Rhineland and German Romanticism. Yet he moulds that model to his will in a work that is at once monumental, personal, warm, and innovative. The past and the imagination are mutually reinforcing.