Stephen Hough Plays Dvořák

Danish composer Carl August Nielsen once described his Fourth Symphony in the following manner: “Life is indomitable and inextinguishable; the struggle, the wrestling, the generation and the wasting away go on today as yesterday, tomorrow as today, and everything returns. Once more: music is life, and like it inextinguishable.” Tonight at 7:30 at Severance Hall, the Cleveland Orchestra performs the piece, which concludes with a finale that features a musical battle between two timpanists. Tonight’s program also features acclaimed pianist Stephen Hough, who will play Antonín Dvořák’s rarely heard Piano Concerto. A pre-concert talk, “Duels, Deceptions, and Dvořák’s Neglected Piano Concerto,” with guest speaker Timothy Cutler,
professor of music theory at the Cleveland Institute of Music, precedes the concert at 6:30 p.m. in Reinberger Chamber Hall at Severance Hall. Tickets start at $29, and the concert repeats at 8 p.m. on Saturday night and at 3 p.m. on Sunday. (Niesel)