The sounds presented in this concert programme are intoxicating and hungry for life: They tell the stories of their composers’ creative urges and breakthrough. Richard Strauss’ symphonic poem Don Juan was a great audience success. Its heroic cadences immediately convinced the young composer’s listeners. His virtuoso Burlesque for Piano and Orchestra, on the other hand, took some time to be appreciated. No wonder: Its technical sophistication is hazardous and its intonation is cynical, and it is hard to tell whether we should see the work as a serious endeavour or a joke – a masterpiece of tongue-in-cheek satire. Antonín Dvořák wrote his Symphony No. 8 during a period of international triumph. In his euphoria, he was literally overrun by the countless musical ideas that found their way into the work.