Brahms’ Symphony No.2

The evening

A wild dance, a technicolour concerto and a ‘blue sky’ symphony – we play music that waltzes between light and shadow.

Ravel wrote a description of waltzing couples and illuminated chandeliers, lighting a hall with a whirling crowd on the music of La valse. Conductor Alexandre Bloch and the orchestra are sure to bring it to life.

It’s followed by Strauss’s stunning Oboe Concerto, written for an American soldier after World War II. Its solo part is famously tough but Hallé Principal Oboe, Stéphane Rancourt is eager for the challenge. ‘I just adore playing Strauss’s music. It’s like watching a blockbuster movie.’

Brahms’ Second Symphony was described by a friend of the composer as ‘all blue sky, babbling of streams, sunshine and cool green shade.’ Nevertheless, a bleaker theme in the trombones adds mysterious depths.