“[Ingrid] Fliter plays with such grace and heartfelt sincerity… by whatever magical means, [she] touches the heart,” claims Gramophone; Fliter joins the MSO for Mozart’s smiling Piano Concerto No. 17. This heartfelt program continues with music from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet, complete with a masquerade ball, declarations of love, and a tragic ending for … Continued

Ruth Reinhardt, “an elegant, versatile and committed conductor in the search for expressive colors” (Scherzo), helms this program, which includes Haydn’s Symphony No. 80 —too often overlooked, this turbulent music turns storms to sunlight. The winds sparkle in Hindemith’s enduring Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber; this music was originally sketched as … Continued

“One of the finest Baroque conductors of his generation” (The Independent), Nicholas McGegan returns to the MSO to conduct music by two Haydns, beginning with younger brother Michael Haydn’s incidental music from Voltaire’s play Zaïre. Later, Joseph Haydn’s exhilarating “Military” Symphony lives up to its name with percussive power, trumpet fanfare, and what one reviewer … Continued

“A wayfaring craftsman, who has had a great sorrow, goes out into the world and wanders aimlessly,” said Mahler of his Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (“Songs of a Wayfarer”); returning Artistic Partner Dashon Burton gives voice to this wistful cycle of four Lieder which hint at Mahler’s own experience with unrequited love. In honor of … Continued

Gemma New, “one of the brightest rising stars in the conducting firmament” (St. Louis Post Dispatch), returns to guide the MSO through the adventure of Sibelius’s Second Symphony. Though Sibelius denied any political story behind the Second’s music, patriotic hearts have adopted it anyway — the symphony’s heroic feelings of hope and triumph are impossible … Continued

Poulenc’s Gloria, with its unexpected blend of secular and sacred sounds, fascinated (and scandalized) audiences from its first performances. “While writing it I had in mind those Crozzoli frescoes with angels sticking out their tongues,” the composer remarked. Lili Boulanger’s impressionistic “Of a Spring Morning” introduces the program with a bright festivity. Jean-Marie Zeitouni, a … Continued

Music Director Ken-David Masur conducts a powerful program highlighting three generations of American composers. In Aaron Copland’s stirring musical portrait of Abraham Lincoln, the composer begins by suggesting “the mysterious sense of fatality that surrounds Lincoln’s personality” and ends by attempting “to draw a simple but impressive frame about the words of Lincoln himself.” MSO … Continued

Completing this season’s three-part exploration of tragic lovers Romeo and Juliet is Leonard Bernstein’s suite of Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, overflowing with familiar tunes such as “Somewhere,” “Cool,” and “Maria.” Bernstein opens the program as well when violinist Tai Murray takes the stage with his Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium), which the composer referred … Continued

When Music Director Ken-David Masur tapped Concertmaster Jinwoo Lee after a four-year search, he praised Lee’s energy, musical curiosity, and “great artistic spontaneity.” Those qualities also describe this kaleidoscopic program, which finds Lee performing Sibelius’s dreamy Violin Concerto following Nielsen’s symphonic poem about the lusty god Pan’s pursuit of a water nymph. Anna Clyne’s deeply-felt … Continued

Following last season’s successful celebration of one of history’s greatest composers, Music Director Ken-David Masur and Artistic Partner Dashon Burton return with a fresh program of Bach favorites. To begin, the MSO’s own Jeanyi Kim and Kevin Pearl take center stage for Bach’s Concerto for Violin & Oboe, respectively. This concert also includes the church … Continued