Ghost song from Ireland’s windswept moors

Extremes meet in this nature-inspired program, which begins with the overture to Carl Maria von Weber’s opera and also the audience success The Free Shooter (Der Freischütz) from 1821. A colorful potpourri in which the many themes of popular opera are woven together in a unified musical unity, all under the sure hand of the house’s own Eduardo Strausser.

The concert then moves towards Ireland’s windswept moors. Saxophonist Anders Paulsson – on a long-awaited return visit – has chosen to embark on British composer Anna Clyne’s newly written, evocative Glasslands for orchestra. The solo concert, which recently had its world premiere, is, according to the composer, inspired by Irish mythology. The saxophone, sometimes whispering, sometimes plaintive, mimics a Banshee, a fairytale creature from the fog-shrouded moors of the green island, who heralded death with his ghostly song.

After the intermission, the orchestra plays Mendelssohn’s Third Symphony, also known as the Scottish Symphony. Mendelssohn wrote it in connection with an educational trip to Great Britain, and it was precisely the untamed, dramatic Scottish landscape that made an indelible impression on the young composer. The symphony is one of the world’s most beloved, balancing between the dramatically expressive and the elegant.