Trifonov and Grimaud are among the debuts, old friends make welcome returns, and Limelight can reveal the Tristan cast.

Principal Conductor Asher Fisch has launched the West Australian Symphony Orchestra’s 2017 season by announcing a two-year voyage of discovery focussing on his beloved Richard Wagner. A two-concert festival next year will explore the idea of Wagner and Beyond, while the teaser is the revelation of a pair of concert performances in 2018 – WASO’s 90th anniversary year – of the master’s seminal work, Tristan und Isolde. A whopping 22 artist debuts, including pianists Daniil Trifonov and Hélène Grimaud, plus four world premieres, are among the other top draws.

^{Asher Fisch conducts a young Daniil Trifonov at the Rubinstein Competition}

Making the pilgrimage to Perth to catch up with Maestro Fisch ahead of the cat being officially released from the bag, I begin by asking about his 2016 highlights. “Mahler Two, for sure” is the immediate reply. “We started with Mahler Nine, and then we did One, and then we did Two, and you can see when a language is becoming...