Cinematic in scale, this concert is built around Richard Strauss’s tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life) from 1898. Strauss wrote, “While it has no funeral march, it does have lots of horns, horns being quite the thing to express heroism,” so look forward to yet another tour de force from Samuel Jacobs and his fellow players in the brass, Euan Harvey, Marnie Sebire and Rachel Silver. Conducted by Donald Runnicles, the program also includes Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel Suite and Beethoven’s overture from The Creatures of Prometheus.

Limelight Editor’s Choice

Richard Strauss’ A Hero’s Life (Ein Heldenleben) is the centrepiece of this concert. The music is indeed heroic: rich and colourful, with energy, vitality and personality worthy of any Hollywood blockbuster.

Strauss pushes the orchestra to its limits in volume and virtuosity, and the exquisite solo violin part is one of the most demanding and extraordinary in all of music.

Based on the famous fairytale, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel conjures an enchanting world of forests and witches, the music rivalling the plot for drama and adventure. Following its American premiere in 1905 The New York Times described it as ‘an achievement of the highest talent and skill,’ and its charms have not diminished since.