Opening with a thunderous and instantly recognisable cascade down the keyboard, Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor is reason enough to attend this concert, especially when it’s performed by one the finest pianists today, Alexander Gavrylyuk. It is coupled with two of Sibelius’s most popular works – the Third Symphony with its austere soundscape evoking the boreal forests, and his patriotic protest against Tsarist censorship, Finlandia. The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra promises “an explosion of mastery and energy” and with Eivind Aadland conducting, it’s bound to deliver.

Limelight Editor’s Choice

There’s something truly wondrous about folk music. Its capacity to instantly transport us to another world is a marvel, and in the case of Nietzsche, a powerful mechanism to remind us of our shared humanity. This program pays homage to the folk fables and pleasures of the past. The violin and clarinet —who are seemingly at home in this folk idiom—dance and wail throughout as the piano steadfastly paints scenes of different worlds. From Stravinsky’s daring dance with the devil in L’histoire du Soldat to the high octane klezmer-inspired romp of Schoenfield’s Freylakh, and Vartapet’s achingly beautiful Armenian Folk Songs, we are reminded at every turn of just how central folk music has been to helping us find meaning within this world.