Conductor Laureate Herbert Blomstedt brings his eloquent exactitude to two treasures of the German symphonic tradition, both indebted to earlier masters. In a diary entry that Schubert wrote around the time he composed his Fifth Symphony, he raved about the 'haunting' influence of Mozart. Brahms worked on his First Symphony for more than 20 years, in fitful bursts, followed by bouts of recrimination and revision. Like Schubert, he fretted obsessively about living up to Beethoven's example.
Event WebsiteDecades after his death, Richard Strauss enjoyed a posthumous comeback thanks to his searing and cerebral tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra. The indelible opening trumpet fanfare is instantly recognizable from its use in films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and Barbie. Equally colorful works by Hector Berlioz and Claude Debussy add Gallic flair before the program hurtles to its heart-racing conclusion with John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine.
Soprano Angel Blue makes her long-awaited Met role debut as the Ethiopian princess torn between love and country, one of opera’s defining roles. Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin takes the podium for Michael Mayer’s spectacular new staging, which brings audiences inside the towering pyramids and gilded tombs of ancient Egypt with intricate projections and dazzling animations. The all-star cast also features baritone Quinn Kelsey as Amonasro and bass Dmitry Belosselskiy as Ramfis.
Expect the Unexpected: Step into adventure as the Symphony brings extraordinary, multisensory experiences to the underground club atmosphere of the SoundBox space.
Estonian-American conductor Paavo Järvi’s return to Davies Symphony Hall delivers passion and pyrotechnics aplenty with Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2, which showcases the Berlin-based Russian-American pianist Kirill Gerstein. Mahler's Seventh Symphony opens with a slow and shadowy first movement and closes with a euphoric, tempo-switching, Mozart-quoting rondo finale that has always been hater bait, but who cares? Let the boring killjoys blabber on about incoherence while the rest of us bask in its brilliant sunshine.