Hand to the Program
The Munich Philharmonic travels to the ADDA in Alicante for a thoughtful concert conducted by Lahav Shani. Violinist Esther Yoo makes the solo line sing, while the orchestra offers a focused, supportive backdrop. The program weds Romantic and late-Romantic repertoire, creating a dialogue between soloist and ensemble marked by lyric warmth, precise articulation, and a shared momentum.
Opening the program is Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in E major, Op. 64. The piece traces Mendelssohn’s early impulse to fuse violin and orchestra, a path formed in youth after absorbing Bach’s concertos. Work on the concerto began around 1838 and culminated in 1844 during a holiday near Frankfurt. The premiere took place on March 13, 1845 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, with Ferdinand David as the soloist and Niels Gade conducting. Mendelssohn was ill and could not attend the premiere, but a later performance by a young Josef Joachim in Leipzig on October 3, 1847 helped cement the work’s place in the violin repertoire. The concerto is celebrated for its natural blend of technical virtuosity and singing melodies, and for the intimate dialogue between solo violin and orchestra. Scholar Tranchefort notes that its enduring fame owes something to the brilliance of the violin display as much as to the refined artistry of the concertante voice.
The second movement unfolds as a lyrical dialogue in which the violin presents the principal idea while the woodwinds carry a tender, singing line. The ensuing rondo-like finale gains momentum through a rhythmically forceful refrain that keeps the orchestra and soloist tightly bonded in a sequence of spirited exchanges. The development demands a poised, polished command of tone and phrasing from the soloist, with the orchestra providing compact, articulate support. The overall architecture stays coherent and graceful, balancing expressive breadth with technical finesse. Scholarly reflections emphasize the concerto’s role in defining Romantic concertante style while preserving classical clarity.
In ADDA’s ongoing collaborations, a notable performance featured Julia Fischer as soloist under Juanjo Mena, in partnership with the BBC Philharmonic, and today the American Esther Yoo steps in, replacing a performer who withdrew due to illness. The concert offers a generous solo line and a precise orchestral texture, inviting the violin to sing and the orchestra to respond with transparency.
Anton Bruckner
Born in Ansfelden, Upper Austria, in 1824, and died in Vienna in 1896.
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, A 124
The Ninth Symphony by Anton Bruckner is widely regarded as a summation and farewell to a life spent in service to musical structure and sacred imagination. The work threads memories of earlier compositions, drawing on material reminiscent of the Kyrie and Miserere from the Mass in D minor and the Benedictus from the Mass in F, while recalling motifs from the Finale of the Fifth and the Adagio of the Eighth. The key of D minor connects the work to Mozart’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Ninth, and Bruckner wove a sense of ultimate peace into the closing pages with the motto Ad maiorem Dei gloria. The Ninth carries a quiet nobility while inviting a monumental emotional arc that feels both ancient and modern.
The earliest sketches for the Ninth date to the summer of 1887. After the strong reception of the Eighth, the composer paused the Ninth and did not resume it until spring 1891. By November 1894 he completed the Adagio, but illness left the Finale unfinished; only sketches remained. The Vienna premiere with three completed movements occurred on February 11, 1903, under Ferdinand Löwe, seven years after the composer’s death. Beginning in 1932 the original version was revived, omitting Te Deum and the Finale sketches, leaving a substantial but incomplete sense of the intended closure. The finale culminates in a potent, almost liturgical clang in the Adagio, followed by a triumphant, exhausted rest in the closing bars. Tranchefort described the Adagio as deeply poignant, noting that the music moves toward a spiritual end beyond earthly life.
Live performances of the Ninth continue to highlight its paradoxes of unfinishedness and universality. The symphony’s emotional arc, built from ardent climaxes and serene, long-lined melodies, speaks in a language that feels both ancient and modern, inviting listeners into an arena where farewell becomes a tribute to the enduring power of art. The work closes with a final departure, a resignation to the peace that music allows the human heart to imagine and endure.
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