Munich Philharmonic

This program’s virtuosity is thrilling and its intensity will keep you on the edge of your seat. Jörg Widmann’s Con brio is an orchestral showpiece that bustles with energy and wittily tips its hat to Beethoven. Brahms’s Violin Concerto is vigorous—especially in its solo pyrotechnics and gypsy-accented finale—and luxurious in its gorgeous melodies and richly sonorous orchestration. Shostakovich’s symphony is a profoundly personal work: a journey from despair to triumph filled with haunting beauty and flashes of the macabre that culminates in a rousing finale.

Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal

Powerful emotions, soaring melodies, and superstar artists make this a concert you won’t want to miss. The flowing lyrical line and robust coloratura of Sesto’s aria "Parto, ma tu ben mio" from Mozart’s opera La clemenza di Tito are ideally suited to Joyce DiDonato’s bravura vocalism. Mozart’s splendor is well-matched in Bruckner’s transcendent “Romantic” Symphony. Rousing opening horn calls set the stage for a work with thrilling waves of brass and swirling strings in its famous Scherzo, and noble affirmation of the heroic in its finale.

Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique

The opening motif of the Symphony No. 5 is certainly one of the most famous in all of music. It is a dramatic curtain-raiser for an intense symphony that storms with unbridled power, ultimately lifting the listener to one of the most triumphant finales ever composed. While Symphony No. 4 sits in the chronology between two titanic symphonies, the lighter orchestration and gentler tone put it closer to works by Haydn and Mozart. Its propulsive third movement, however, puts it firmly in the Beethoven canon.

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 is a five-movement masterpiece that honors his dictum that a symphony should embrace all the world. The symphony pulses with life; despair and joy are vibrantly portrayed in an opening funeral march, folk-inspired dances, a waltz, and raucous humor that courses through the finale. Schubert’s youthful Fifth Symphony tips its hat to Haydn and Mozart with its mastery of classical form, while also delighting with its abundant melodies—particularly the tender songlike slow movement—and vivacious finale.