Two star artists unite for a celebration of Camille Saint-Saëns at DR Koncerthuset's Koncertsalen. Leonidas Kavakos takes the podium to conduct Saint-Saëns' celebrated Organ Symphony (Symphony No. 3), allowing the hall's grand organ to resonate in all its power. The work — sometimes called a 'resurrection symphony' — traces a journey from darkness to light, revolving around the Dies irae melody before the organ transforms it in a radiant climax.
Before the interval, young British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason makes his debut with DR Symfoniorkestret in Saint-Saëns' Cello Concerto No. 1 — a work admired by both Shostakovich and Rachmaninov as perhaps the finest cello concerto ever written, combining freshness and vitality with soulful melancholy.
Leonidas Kavakos, the acclaimed violinist and Sonning Award winner, returns to the orchestra in a new capacity — as conductor rather than soloist.