Strauss & Saint-Saëns

The evening

High-voltage music, big questions, unforgettable moments.

The orchestra pauses, the silence itself seems to quiver – and then with a single, mighty blast, the organ raises the roof. No-one who’s heard Saint-Saëns’s Third Symphony live ever forgets how it got its nickname, and if you haven’t heard it live you haven’t really heard it. That goes double for Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra; one composer’s attempt to retell the entire history of humanity in ear-dazzling orchestral sound. No question, this is a high-voltage concert from guest conductor Kahchun Wong, but at its heart are some big questions: and as Charles Ives demonstrates, they’re no less compelling for being unanswered.

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