Brahms 2 & Dvořák’s Cello Concerto

Making their respective debuts, Italian conductor Daniele Rustioni and German cellist Daniel Müller-Schott join the San Francisco Symphony in Dvořák’s wrenching and radiant Cello Concerto, a paragon of the Romantic cello repertoire. Although it was conceived in the United States, its beating heart belongs to the homesick composer’s native Bohemia. Brahms composed the Second Symphony on summer holiday in the Austrian province of Carinthia, where he awoke at dawn to swim in Lake Wörth, gorge on fresh crab in the afternoon, and hike for hours. A work of bittersweet depth, the Second revels in bright sunshine and lingers in cool shadows.