Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Vänskä & Skride

Since winning the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2001, Baiba Skride has become a fixture among the world’s leading violinists. Having previously performed with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra (ASO), she is returning with Dmitri Shostakovich’s powerful Violin Concerto No. 2. It is also a welcome reunion with conductor Osmo Vänskä. With Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5, he has chosen a work replete with hope. The Russian composer wrote this piece during the darkest days of the Second World War, yet the music speaks of resistance and optimism. The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra opens the evening with Metacosmos by Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Bozar’s portrait artist this season. Drawing on the orchestra’s full range of colours and textures, she evokes the majesty of the cosmos. A night of primal symphonic power and hope.