Kurt Masur, considered to be one of today’s foremost interpreters of the music of Felix Mendelssohn, has been in the U.S. celebrating the composer’s 200th birthday (February 3, 2009) with two orchestras: the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. The BSO’s all-Mendelssohn concerts, which took place at Symphony Hall from January 22 to 27, featured the Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave) Overture and Symphony Nos. 3 (“Scottish”) and 4 (“Italian”). For the Philharmonic’s concerts from February 4 to 7, Masur will conduct performances of the Overture to Ruy Blas; the Violin Concerto, featuring Anne-Sophie Mutter; and the secular cantata Die erste Walpurgisnacht, with mezzo-soprano Christine Knorren, tenor Jorma Silvasti, bass-baritone Albert Dohmen, bass Thorsten Grümbel, and the Westminster Symphonic Choir. Masur also will participate in a discussion on February 2 with Mendelssohn specialist R. Larry Todd and the Philharmonic’s scholar in residence, James M. Keller.
