Brahms’ Third

Fierce Longing

📍 This event takes place at Powell Hall

Friday, Jan 8, 2027, 10:30am View Subscriptions Saturday, Jan 9, 2027, 7:30pm View Subscriptions Sunday, Jan 10, 2027, 3:00pm View Subscriptions

Subscribe & Save

Guarantee your seats for the 26/27 season by subscribing today. Enjoy first access to concerts, priority seating and parking, and 15% off single ticket prices. Single tickets will be available this summer.

View Subscriptions

Program

Stéphane Denève, conductor
James Ehnes, violin

Detlev Glanert Vexierbild. (Hidden Image.) (SLSO co-commission)
Max Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1
Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 3

About this Concert

Artistic inspiration and passion shine as Brahms’ Third Symphony is paired with modern-day composer Detlev Glanert’s response to the work in this musical dialogue of a concert. The Third Symphony, one of Brahms’ most personal compositions, has been described by music critic Eduard Hanslick as “artistically the most nearly perfect” of the composer’s collection. Multi-Grammy Award-winning violinist James Ehnes joins the conversation, returning to St. Louis to share his rendition of Bruch’s impassioned Violin Concerto No. 1.

- In an interview for The Strad, James Ehnes told the story of his earliest concerto experiences, sharing that playing Bruch’s Violin Concerto is now: “a reminder of why I wanted to do [music] in the first place. This is one of the first violin concertos I ever played.”
- Vexierbild. (Hidden Image.) is Detlev Glanert’s companion piece to Brahms’ Symphony No. 3; it is one of a set of four works intended to honor and reimagine each of Brahms’ four symphonies without directly quoting any of the original symphonic material.
- The opening notes of Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 are F, A-flat, F, which represent the first letters of the phrase Frei aber froh, or free but happy, making a distinct connection between this symphony and Brahms’ personal life at the time it was written.

Artists

Meet the people that make the music.

Stéphane Denève

Conductor

James Ehnes

Violin

Musicians of the SLSO

Special Thanks

Coffee Concert Series Supported by EverTrue
Friday morning complimentary refreshments courtesy of Kaldi’s Coffee Roasting Co. and Eddie’s Southtown Donuts