4th Symphony Concert

This all-French program spans a period ranging from the era of revolutionary upheaval through the Belle Époque to the modern era. Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (1782–1871) ranked among the most important French opera composers of his time, alongside Gioachino Rossini and Giacomo Meyerbeer. The 1830 premiere of his magnum opus, La muette de Portici (“The Mute Girl of Portici”), caused a sensation. In Brussels, this opera provided the impetus for Belgium’s uprising against the Netherlands.
Composed in 1872, Camille Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor is elegant, colorful, and playful, yet at the same time possesses dramatic power. Balancing the virtuosic demands of the solo part with symphonic cohesion, this seamless work remains one of the great showpieces of the cello repertoire to this day.
Darius Milhaud’s music is rarely encountered in Germany. His Symphony No. 2, Op. 247, composed in 1944 shortly after his emigration to the United States, displays an impressive variety of facets—from mysterious moments of suspension and shimmering, ethereal soundscapes to a radiant, almost liturgical-sounding finale.