Joshua Bell with Joana Mallwitz and the BSO

Acclaimed German conductor Joana Mallwitz returns to Symphony Hall for a pair of classics, leading superstar American violinist Joshua Bell in Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1. Bruch wrote the concerto — a central work in the soloist’s repertoire — for the great violinist Joseph Joachim, for whom Brahms would also write a concerto. Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 helped both revitalize and transform the genre, bringing the broad expressive scope and orchestral innovation of Richard Wagner’s operas to the concert hall. Like many of his symphonies, the First is linked to Mahler’s song output, employing the familiar melody from his song “Ging heut’ morgen über’s Feld” in its first movement.