Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony alternates between types of popular dances and military archetypes, yet it contains a moment of striking contrast—in the expressive character of one of the most famous second movements in the entire symphonic repertoire.

Combining euphoria and introspection, it invites the listener to embark on a sublime experience.

In this program, it is preceded by two intimate works, both inspired by great passions: Siegfried Idyll is the serenade with which Wagner awoke Cosima Liszt on her birthday; meanwhile, Sibelius’s Pelléas et Mélisande suite brings together musical excerpts from a theatrical production of Maurice Maeterlinck’s play of the same name, telling a tragic love story set in the fictional kingdom of Allemonde.

The musical direction is by Pietari Inkinen, chief conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern over the past eight years, trained in Helsinki at the Sibelius Academy.