Johannes Brahms’s music combines the romantic idiom with classical form to create something unique. This program includes two of his works: Serenade No.2, a birthday gift for Clara Schumann filled with a pastoral, calm and dream-like atmosphere; and Brahms’s Violin Concerto, an emblem of the composer’s mature period characterized by virtuosity, vitality and idealism, praised as one of the top three violin concertos in the musical canon. This concert also includes a new work by Feng Zihui that references Northern Song poet Mei Yaochen, pitting an erhu soloist against the orchestra in a thrilling emotional journey ranging from sadness and tears to joy and laughter.