Mendelssohn – ‘Ruy Blas’ Overture | Maxim Emelyanychev | WDR Symphony Orchestra

Mendelssohn – ‘Ruy Blas’ Overture | Maxim Emelyanychev | WDR Symphony Orchestra
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Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s “Ruy Blas” Overture, Op. 95, performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maxim Emelyanychev. Recorded live at the Cologne Philharmonie on 12 June 2026.

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy – “Ruy Blas” Overture, Op. 95

WDR Symphony Orchestra
Maxim Emelyanychev, conductor

Programme notes
What do you do when you accept a commission to compose – but absolutely cannot stand the subject matter? Try to muddle through somehow? Deliver a professional piece of work? Play for time? Or even give up altogether? Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, brought up to value straightforward discipline, opts for a different approach: he simply composes one of his finest concert overtures – even though his enthusiasm for the literary source material, Victor Hugo’s drama ‘Ruy Blas’, is very limited. The occasion is a practical one. In 1839, a charity event was due to take place in Leipzig for the city’s theatre pension fund. Mendelssohn, by now Kapellmeister at the Gewandhaus and one of Europe’s most respected musicians, was asked to contribute an overture – for Victor Hugo’s drama *Ruy Blas*, which had premiered just the year before. It is the story of a simple man who, at the Spanish royal court of the 17th century, becomes a pawn in political intrigues and ultimately meets a tragic end. Mendelssohn therefore accepts the commission, and, astonishingly, within a few days a piece of music of electrifying energy takes shape. Even the opening chords feel like a door being flung open with force. Before one realises it, Mendelssohn creates a musical pull that oscillates between drama and elegance, between a passionate drive forward and lyrical pauses. In doing so, he does not retell the play scene by scene through his music, but rather condenses its atmosphere: the courtly world, inner conflicts, tragedy and restless movement. The premiere on 11 November 1839 in Leipzig was a success. Victor Hugo’s drama itself is now almost forgotten, whereas Mendelssohn’s overture has secured its place in the canon – as a resounding testament to the fact that great inspiration is possible even without enthusiasm.
Text: Otto Hagedorn

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