Gewandhausorchester Presents Mendelssohn in Newark

Next stop on the Gewandhausorchester’s celebrated 40th anniversary tour of the U.S. this autumn is the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. The concert on November 8 features works by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, a key figure in the long line of distinguished Kapellmeister who have led the world’s oldest civic symphony orchestra over the past 270 years.

The Romantic-period German composer was appointed Gewandhauskapellmeister in 1835 at the age of just 26, the youngest to have assumed the position ever before or since. He remained music director until his untimely death just 12 years later. By the time he died at the age of only 38, “the Mozart of the 19th Century” had composed an oeuvre of more than 400 works. During his tenure in Leipzig, the prolific maestro revolutionized the role of conductor, becoming a performer himself who gave personal interpretations of the works he played.

During his incumbency, the Gewandhausorchester gave the first performances of several of his own most significant works, including the Violin Concerto in E minor, the Scottish Symphony and the overture to Ruy Blas. Mendelssohn also conducted the orchestra in the world premieres of Franz Schubert's “The Great” Symphony No. 9 in C major as well as Robert Schumann’s 1st, 2nd and 4th symphonies. He is credited with innovative programming that incorporated older masterpieces, including a revival of Johann Sebastian Bach’s instrumental works – music that until Mendelssohn’s arrival in Leipzig had largely been forgotten.

Mendelssohn’s legacy is very much alive today in Leipzig, a global center of Mendelssohn research. It is also the location of Germany’s first conservatory, which was founded by the great composer in 1843. The Gewandhausorchester regularly cooperates with the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music and Theater through the Mendelssohn Orchestra Academy, which awards Master’s degrees in orchestral musicianship to top musicians. In 1997, Kurt Masur – another icon in the orchestra’s long, star-studded history – launched the Mendelssohn Festival, which pays tribute to the life and works of Felix Mendelssohn every year in late summer.

Not least, his music lives on when the Gewandhausorchester and their current Kapelmeister Riccardo Chailly recreate the Romantic era of their esteemed predecessor. After the special all-Mendelssohn program in Newark, the Leipzig musicians move on to New York for the two-evening climax of their U.S. tour. As Official Logistics Partner, DHL proudly ensures that the orchestra’s precious instruments arrive safely and perfectly intact, so that they can present their unique Mendelssohn heritage to audiences around the world. 

Performers:

Gewandhausorchester

Riccardo Chailly, conductor

Nikolaj Znaider, violin

Program:

November 8, 2014 – Newark – New Jersey Performing Arts Center

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) - Overture, op. 26, MWV P 7

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Violin Concerto in E minor, op. 64

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Symphony No. 5 in D minor, op. 107, “Reformation Symphony”