María Dueñas and Mikko Franck in Mendelssohn and Webern

María Dueñas is the soloist in this mostly-Mendelssohn concert filmed in Paris in December 2023. We first hear Anton Webern’s remarkable Passacaglia before the Spanish virtuoso joins the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in Mendelssohn’s ever-popular Violin Concerto in E minor, whose famous opening melody is immediately introduced by the soloist – a revolutionary gesture at the time of its composition in 1844. It is followed by the “Reformation” Symphony. Composed in 1830 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Augsburg Confession, it is notable for its use of the “Dresden Amen” that would later feature in Wagner’s Parsifal and, as the basis for the finale, Luther’s chorale melody “Ein’ feste Burg ist unser Gott!“.

Soloist: 

María Dueñas (Violin)

Ensemble: 

Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France

Conductor: 

Mikko Franck