“Concert piece for violoncello with orchestral accompaniment.” This slightly ambiguous determination is how Schumann defined his Cello Concerto in A minor (autumn 1850), thereby stating he was fully aware the work diverged from the ‘official’ model of the First Viennese School. The work is presented with the solo by Steven Isserlis, who has a deep commitment to Schumann, indeed, he has appeared in print as ‘defence attorney’ for the German. “There is no composer to whom I feel closer than to Schumann. He has been a beloved friend since I was a child...” the world-famous British cellist (an audience favourite here in Budapest, too) has said about Schumann. The presumed death of a creative genius worshipped as a god and the Eucharist itself: the other two works in the programme both evoke the world of sacrality, albeit in different ways. Olivier Messiaen’s work originally dates from 1932, but as a consequence of World War II the composer was forced to rewrite this spiritually-inspired piece from memory in 1947. Anton Bruckner’s ‘Lyric’ symphony, and particularly the beautiful Adagio movement, was born out of the composer’s realization that his idol, Wagner, did not have long to live – and in truth, news of the maestro’s death reached Bruckner while he was writing the Adagio.