This concert presenting a condensed program opens in the world of Orpheus, the mythical figure whose voice could move even the shadows.
In Gluck’s hands, the music becomes clear, expressive, and profoundly human—a sunlit brilliance running through the overture and the pages of this ballet music. That same radiance finds its natural echo in Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony, composed at the age of 24, overflowing with joy and shaped by the ruins, landscapes, and vibrant spirit of the Italian countryside. Under the refined direction of Bernard Labadie, this musical moment comes to life with freshness and vitality.