June 1, 2012  to June 2, 2012

Bruckner Blockbuster
8 p.m., Majestic Theatre

Fourteenth and final concert in the Masterclassics series
Seventh concert in the Applause series

Sebastian Lang-Lessing, conductor
Olga Scheps, piano

Liszt Piano Concerto No. 2 in A major, S.125
Bruckner Symphony No. 7 in E major

This performance is sponsored by the 2010-11 Symphony Friends donors.

The famous conductor Wilhelm Furwangler declared, “Bruckner’s Art is timeless. He thought only of Eternity and he worked for Eternity… Bruckner is the heir of all the means of expression of Romanticism at its height. In his music, which covers the whole range of human feelings, there is not one single note that does not proclaim an immediate bond with Eternity.”

Mahler and Bruckner shared a love of Wagner’s music, but had very different personalities. Bruckner was a tee totaling cathedral organist and suffered none of Mahler’s angst. The slow movement of this symphony was a tribute to Wagner, as it features French horns and Wagner tubas. It was written in the year of Wagner’s death. The finale contrasts Bruckner’s pious chorales against the more theatrical sensuality of his idol.

Liszt was born in 1811 and the San Antonio Symphony has been playing celebrating this 200th anniversary with a series of Liszt Tone Poems and Piano Concertos in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons.

Pianist Olga Scheps was born in Moscow in 1986 and came to Germany at the age of six. Today, she lives in Cologne. Scheps has been among the most sought-after soloists of the younger generation. Her concerts led her to numerous renowned music centres such as the Philharmonie am Gasteig Munich, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Philharmonie Berlin, Liederhalle Stuttgart, and the Mozarteum Salzburg. Orchestras like the Radio Symphony Orchestras of the NDR, Musikkollegium Winterthur, the State Orchestra of Lower-Saxony Hanover, and the Symphony Orchestra Munich are her partners.

 

This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.”