1st Symphony Concert

Mark Rohde opens his first concert season as general music director at the Mainfranken Theater with works by the two great Romantics Richard Wagner and Anton Bruckner. Richard Wagner is, with his great music dramas, seen as a revolutionary of the classic musical theater. But he is not only famous for his stunning operas. His Wesendonck-Lieder belong to his most intimate compositions. These five Lieder for piano, which were orchestrated later on, are a result of Wagner’s unanswered love to Mathilde Wesendonck, wife of his generous sponsor Otto Wesendock. „She is and will stay my first und only love“, Wagner confirmed in 1863. That is why the atmosphere of his love opera Tristan and Isolde, which he composed at the same time, is also to be found within this whole song cycle. Tristan and Isolde, as well as Wesendonck-Lieder, are stories about eternal love, fulfilled in death. Levitating dissonances and modulations which are constantly moving express this everlasting desire.
Anton Bruckner was a passionate admirer of Wagner. Bruckner’s 7th symphony is an homage to the master from Bayreuth, who died during the composition in 1883. For the solemn adagio which was completed shortly after Wagner’s death Bruckner used the typical Wagner tubas. With his “7th “, 60-year-old Brucker finally had his long-awaited success. Even though Bruckner was often smiled at by Vienna music critics, conductor Hermann Levi actually said this 7th symphony was “the most significant work since the death of Beethoven“.