June is often a good time to be in Berlin. The days are long, the strawberries are in season, and there are usually a few good concerts to be found in the weeks before the orchestras shutter their windows for the summer break. This year, the Berlin Philharmonic brought their regular season to a close with a satisfying programme, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, which placed the German première of a new work by Unsuk Chin between two very different works – Haydn’s Symphony No. 80 and Brahms’ First Piano Concerto – united by the key of D minor. A clear majority of Haydn’s symphonies (roughly 90%) were composed in major keys, and the scarcity of his minor key excursions often make them something of a delight. The Symphony No. 80 – which, according to the programmes notes, had not been played by the Berlin Philharmonic in so long that they…
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