Unplayable! The judgment of the famous virtuoso was unequivocal: the violinist Leopold Auer felt himself simply incapable of taking on the solo part in the world-premiere of Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg in 1879. But one person's grief is another's joy: Adolph Brodsky stepped into the breach in Vienna in 1881 and won this sparkling work a rapturous success with the public that has remained with it to this day. Julian Rachlin is sure to dazzle just as much with virtuosity as with sentiment and cantabile. He has invited no less than the Filarmonica della Scala to join him, led by the young American conductor Robert Trevino.

Following the violin concerto, he and the famous Milanese guests will present one of Franz Schubert's early symphonies to the HERBSTGOLD audience: the energetic and sunny Symphony No. 2 in B flat major.