Belgian National Orchestra, Schønwandt & Steckel

About the Event

The evening begins with Hector Berlioz’s “Roman Carnival”: brilliance, theatricality, and effervescent energy. The orchestra presents playful timbres and exuberant dynamics in a French celebration brimming with vitality and splendor. In the cello concerto “Before We Fall,” Anna Thorvaldsdottir explores a world full of tension and vulnerability. The solo cello does not compete with the orchestra but is embedded within it: a voice that balances, seeks, and moves the listener deeply. Julian Steckel lends this music an intensely physical presence with a touch of silvery brilliance. After the intermission, Béla Bartók takes the stage with his Concerto for Orchestra, a tribute to collective power, rhythmic precision, and uncompromising energy. Under the baton of Michael Schønwandt, this “Friday Masterpieces” concert unfolds with the orchestra in the leading role: bold, virtuosic, and full of fire. Ilya Gringolts lends this voice an intensity that is impossible to ignore. After the darkness comes the light—albeit tentatively—in Robert Schumann’s Second Symphony. Not a triumphant victory, but a hard‐won return to joy and inner balance. Under the baton of Jesko Sirvend, this evening leaves questions unanswered and is all the more moving for it.