Belgian National Orchestra, Halls & Vinnitskaya

The season begins in pure imagination with Aeriality by Anna Thorvaldsdottir, our new composer-in-residence. Music that hovers, drifts and opens up spaces for stillness and reflection. In Schumann’s Piano Concerto, the soloist does not confront the orchestra but joins it at the heart of the conversation. Anna Vinnitskaya, winner of the 2007 Queen Elisabeth Competition, brings this intimate dialogue to life with clarity and a natural, compelling strength. After this captivating prelude, Gustav Mahler unfolds his First Symphony, “Titan” — a work in which nature awakens, irony cuts through the surface, and visionary energy gradually rises. Conductor Matthew Halls leads an untameable season opening: sweeping, monumental and rich with promise.