Blomstedt: Sibelius 4  & Hélène Grimaud

Event Description

Conductor Laureate Herbert Blomstedt leads the orchestra in a program exploring music born of tragedy and strife. First comes Brahms’ Tragic Overture, a work that finds inspiration from tragedies of Sophocles to Shakespeare. Sibelius’ Symphony No. 4 offers a much more personal take on the composer’s bouts of depression. When a malignant tumor left him grappling with his own mortality, writing the symphony proved to be a monumental struggle. At its premiere, audiences were disquieted by the brooding music, yet today, it is considered one of his greatest masterpieces. Finally, the elegant and impassioned Hélène Grimaud joins the Orchestra for Schumann’s only piano concerto, a work he struggled to write over the course of nearly 18 years. The result is a concerto whose haunting melodies and prominent orchestral interplay has inspired the likes of Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff.