With performances and recordings of Schubert's complete symphonies, B'Rock and René Jacobs embarked on a symphonic journey that they now take a step further in time: together they explore the world of Felix Mendelssohn.

 

As a 15-year-old, writing a symphony that goes straight into the canon - someone has to do it, and Mendelssohn did it. With his stormy First Symphony, strongly anchored in Viennese classicism but resolutely forward-looking, the young composer was already showing himself to be a master who could effortlessly combine nuance, swagger and innovation. The same ingredients characterise his famous Fifth Symphony, which he wrote in honour of the 300th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, a key document of Protestantism. Those who cannot resist the urge may hum along (softly) with Luther's famous chorale Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott.... The highlight of this Mendelssohn programme is undoubtedly the famous Violin Concerto. With its tenderness, roguish humour and elegance, the work seems to have been written for Vilde Frang.

 

Programme

F.Schubert - Symphony No 8 - Die unvollendete

F. Mendelssohn - Violin concerto in e-flat - op 64

Pause

F. Mendelssohn - Fifth Symphony (Reformation)

 

Photographer: Marco Borggreve