PhilHERmonic | Ode to Youth

Dutch violinist Noa Wildschut is only twenty-four years old, yet she has already established a significant presence on the international classical music scene. At the age of six, she appeared live on Dutch public television during the Kinderprinsengrachtconcert in Amsterdam in 2007. A year later, she made her debut in the Main Hall of the Concertgebouw during the Night of the Promising concert. In September 2016, she became an exclusive recording artist for Warner Classics.

Aleksandra Melaniuk is one of the most promising conductors of the younger generation in Europe. She is a fellow of the prestigious Negaunee Conducting Program at the San Francisco Symphony and the Colburn School. She has already appeared with some of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and has collaborated with ensembles such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

In the interpretation of these two outstanding artists, we will hear Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor. It is by far his most famous work and one of the cornerstones of the Romantic violin repertoire. The concerto evolved over several stages: its first complete version was performed as early as 1865, but the composer was dissatisfied with the result. After extensive revisions, he consulted Joseph Joachim, who accepted the dedication and performed the final version in Bremen in 1867.
Formally, the concerto consists of three movements, but the first functions as a Vorspiel (Prelude) and flows almost seamlessly into the rest of the work. This is what distinguishes Bruch from the more classical concerto model: instead of a broad sonata-form opening, we are drawn immediately into the dramatic substance of the music. The central movement contains one of the most beautiful lyrical melodies of the Romantic era, while the finale derives its energy from dance rhythms and an irresistible sense of momentum.

The second half of the evening features Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s Symphony in C minor, written in 1824 when the composer was just fifteen years old. It was his first symphony for full orchestra, following a series of earlier string symphonies. The public premiere took place in Leipzig on 1 February 1827. It is worth noting that only nineteen days later, Mendelssohn gave his first public performance in Szczecin. During that appearance, the overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream received its world premiere. In just a few months, we will celebrate the two-hundredth anniversary of that event – the most important occasion in the entire musical history of our city.