Experience the passions of springtime in this romantic event at the symphony. The renowned conductor Marek Janowski conducts works by music’s master of sensuality, Richard Wagner. Hear Tannhäuser’s hedonistic adventure in the Venusberg followed by the enrapturing Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde. Plus, the “fierce and impressive” (San Francisco Classical Voice) James Ehnes turns up the bravado in Bruch’s rousing Violin Concerto No. 1.
Inside Music: an informative talk by James M. Keller, begins one hour prior to concerts. Free to ticketholders. Learn More.
MENDELSSOHN
Ruy Blas Overture 1839 | 7 mins
Mendelssohn called Victor Hugo’s historical drama Ruy Blas “detestable and more utterly beneath contempt than you could believe.” Ever the good sport, Mendelssohn was still persuaded to write this Overture for a Leipzig benefit performance of Hugo’s play in 1839. The Ruy Blas Overture does not prefigure any specific action in the play, although the disparate moods it traverses parallel some of the emotional states encountered in the drama. As one would expect from the mature Mendelssohn, the orchestration is inspired and, in certain ways, foreshadows Verdi’s hyper-Romantic operas of the ensuing decade. Read More
BRUCH
Violin Concerto No. 1 1866/1868 | 36 mins
Renowned violinist Joseph Joachim, who collaborated with Bruch in revising this concerto to its final version, once said: “The Germans have four violin concertos. . . . The richest, the most seductive, was written by Max Bruch.” In the opening movement, orchestral chords and solo flourishes alternate. Bruch finds room for two expansive and memorable melodies, then brings back the opening chords and flourishes, using them this time to prepare the soft sinking into the Adagio. In the Adagio resides the soul of this perennially fresh and touching concerto, lyric rapture being heightened by Bruch’s artfully cultivated way with form, proportion, and sequence. As for the crackling, Gypsy-tinged finale, some might assume that Bruch had borrowed a notion or two from his slightly older friend Johannes Brahms. It turns out that Bruch got there first. Read More
WAGNER
Overture and Venusberg Music from Tannhäuser 1845/1861 | 24 mins
Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde 1859 | 17 mins
The operas of Wagner’s maturity synthesized disparate disciplines, including music, literature, the visual arts, ballet, and architecture. He had not quite arrived there in Tannhäuser, but he was getting close. The plot of Tannhäuser derives from medieval German legend filtered through nineteenth-century Romanticism. The title character, unfulfilled by the orgiastic abandon he has experienced on the Venusberg, discovers the possibility of something better—call it redemption, if you will—through the chaste purity of sacred devotion. Read More
Mature Wagner arrived with Tristan und Isolde (unveiled in 1865). Above all, it is for its harmony that Tristan und Isolde is universally considered a watershed work. LISTEN FOR: In the opening measures of the Prelude we hear a curious chord, neither consonant nor strikingly dissonant, that will lend an uncanny sense of ambivalence and yearning throughout the opera’s immense span. Read More
Jeanette Yu is Editorial Director and Steven Ziegler is Managing Editor at the San Francisco Symphony
Program
Ruy Blas Overture
Violin Concerto No. 1
Overture and Venusberg Music from Tannhäuser
Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
Support for James Ehnes's appearance is supported by the Phyllis C. Wattis Fund for Guest Artists.
Bruch's Violin Concerto No. 1
Conductor
Marek Janowski is recognized throughout the world for his interpretations of the works of Wagner, R. Strauss, Bruckner, Brahms, Hindemith, and the Second Viennese School. He begins his post as Chief Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic with the 2019-20 season; he previously served in this position from 2001 to 2003. From 2002 to 2016 he was artistic director of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (RSB), with whom he recorded a live Wagner opera cycle in Berlin's Philharmonie released on Pentatone in 2016.
In the 2018-19 season Mr. Janowski conducts the Dresden Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Oslo Philharmonic, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. In both 2016 and 2017 he conducted Wagner's Ring Cycle at Bayreuth. Mr. Janowski has been a regular visitor to North America since his US debut in 1983 with San Francisco Opera. In the three decades since, he has forged lasting relationships with many top orchestras including those of Boston, Pittsburgh, and Minnesota. He made his San Francisco Symphony debut in 1990. Other US orchestras and opera companies he has conducted include the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Born in Warsaw and educated in Germany, Mr. Janowski's artistic path led him from assistant positions in Aachen, Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Hamburg to his appointment as general music director in Freiburg im Breisgau (1973 to 1975) and Dortmund (1975 to 1979). In 1984 he was named music director of Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, which he led for fifteen seasons. During his tenure in Paris, he also served as chief conductor of the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne (1986 to 1990) and as principal guest conductor of the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (1997 to 1999). From 2000 to 2005 he was music director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo.
Mr. Janowski's discography over the past thirty years is represented on several labels and includes complete symphonic cycles and operas, many of which have been awarded international prizes. His recording of Wagner's complete Ring Cycle with the Staatskapelle Dresden, remains one of the most distinguished offerings of its kind. His recent Bruckner symphony cycle with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, recorded for Pentatone, was also acclaimed.
(May 2019)
Violin
Gifted with stunning virtuosity, serene lyricism, and an unfaltering musicality, James Ehnes is a favorite guest at the world’s most celebrated concert halls. Recent orchestral highlights include the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony (with whom he made his debut in 2003), London Symphony, NHK Symphony, and Munich Philharmonic. Mr. Ehnes continues as artist in residence with the National Arts Centre of Canada in the 2022–23 season.
Alongside his concerto work, Mr. Ehnes maintains a busy recital schedule, performing regularly at the Wigmore Hall; Carnegie Hall; Symphony Center Chicago; Amsterdam Concertgebouw; and the Ravinia, Montreux, Verbier, and Dresden festivals. He leads the Ehnes Quartet and serves as the artistic director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society.
Mr. Ehnes has won many awards for his extensive discography, including two Grammy awards, three Gramophone awards, and 11 Juno awards. His state-of-the-art home recordings of works by Bach and Ysaÿe, released as six episodes over two months, were acclaimed worldwide, and Mr. Ehnes was described by Le Devoir as being “at the absolute forefront of the streaming evolution.”
Mr. Ehnes began violin studies at age five and made his orchestral debut at 13. He continued his training at the Meadowmount School of Music and the Juilliard School, winning the Peter Mennin Prize for outstanding achievement and lead- ership in music. He is a Member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Manitoba; a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada; and an honorary fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, where he is a visiting professor. He plays the 1715 “Marsick” Stradivarius violin.
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