Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House. 14 April 2023
With his foot rarely off the accelerator, principal guest conductor Donald Runnicles drives the Sydney Symphony Orchestra through a roller coaster of emotional Romantic spins, with Brahms’ Second Symphony, Schumann’s only piano concerto and a satisfying homage to Brahms from contemporary composer Detlev Glanert.
All three composers employ the full orchestral array of instruments to articulate this charged and passionate sweep through boisterous and dreamy, quiet pastures and alps, beauty and power, serenity and conflict, loyalty and freedom.