The London Philharmonic Orchestra led by Conductor Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski – photo Ben Ealovega
Canadian violinist James Ehnes is the guest artist in the London Philharmonic Orchestra concert, A Hero’s Life, led by Sir Mark Elder. The programme is one of storytelling, featuring Ravel’s Mother Goose Ballet, Bruch’s Violin Concerto No 2 and Richard Strauss’ tone poem, Ein Helenleben.
James Ehnes © Ben Ealovega
Ehnes, “A violinist in a class of his own”, according to The Times, is the current Artist in Residence with the Melbourne Symphony. Ehnes will accompany the Orchestra on a tour to Asia, where he will also perform the complete Beethoven sonatas at Tokyo’s Kioi Hall, and appear with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Singapore Symphony Orchestras. Among the many awards for his recordings, he has won two Grammy’s, three Gramophone Awards and twelve Juno Awards, also winning the 2021 Artist of the Year title from Gramophone magazine.
James Ehnes is a regular visitor to venues such as London’s Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and Ravinia, Montreux, Verbier and Dresden festivals, and to the Festival de Pâques in Aix. As a chamber musician, he leads the Ehnes Quartet and is the Artistic Director of the Seattle Chamber Music Society.
Ehnes plays the Bruch Violin Concerto No 2, and although it’s not as well known as Bruch’s first concerto, it’s lovely all the same, with its haunting first-movement theme. Bruch – who strangely was not an accomplished violinist – composed it in 1877 and dedicated the concerto to the great Spanish violinist, Pablo de Sarasate, who premiered it at Crystal Palace in London on 4th November of that year, in a performance conducted by the composer.
As Music Director of the Hallé Orchestra between the years 2000 and 2024, Sir Mark Elder is now the Orchestra’s Conductor Emeritus. He has appeared annually at the Proms and served in a number of roles in his distinguished career, including those of Artistic Director of Opera Rara, Principal Guest Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Music Director of English National Opera and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in the USA, was Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
Sir Mark regularly leads the London Philharmonic, has worked with many of the world’s leading symphony orchestras, and appeared in the most prominent international opera houses, including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera New York, Opéra National de Paris, Lyric Opera Chicago and Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and is a Principal Artist of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
The concert opens with Ravel’s Mother Goose Ballet. Originally written in 1908 as a piano duet for the children of some friends of his, Ravel’s suite is based on a set of fairytales by French authors. Subtitled Cinq pièces enfantines (Five Children’s Pieces), it comprises Pavane de la belle au bois dormant (Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty), Petit Poucet (Little Tom Thumb) in which Tom’s trail of breadcrumbs is devoured by a variety of songbirds. There’s a colourful and exotic portrayal of Chinese culture as Laideronnnette, impératrice des pagodes (Laidronette, Empress of the Pagodas) is entertained by musical walnut and almond shells as she bathes, Les entretiens de la belle et de la bête (Conversation of Beauty and the Beast), and ending with Le jardin féerique (The Fairy Garden).
The final work on the programme is Strauss’ tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) which serves as an introduction to Strauss himself. The work, a tuneful self-portrait, depicts him with much self-confidence, also his adversaries, his critics, shows off his music, introduces his wife, Pauline, and details his retirement from the world. His eighth work in the genre, it was completed in 1898, by which time he’d already devoted his time to the subjects of Macbeth, Don Juan, Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel, Thus Spake Zarathustra and Don Quixote.
Mark Elder leads the London Philharmonic Orchestra in this concert titled A Hero’s Life, at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, on Friday 25 October. For further information and tickets, visit the London Philharmonic website.
Information sourced from:
London Philharmonic Orchestra programme notes
Ravel – Mother Goose Ballet
Bruch Violin Concerto
Strauss – Ein Heldenleben
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