AUTUMN GARDENS

Conductor: Nicolò Umberto Foron

Jean Sibelius: Suite from the incidental music to Belshazzar’s Feast, Op. 51 (Oriental Procession, Solitude, Nocturne and Khadra’s Dance)
Einojuhani Rautavaara: Autumn Gardens
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551

This concert opens a window onto the striking contrast between the magnificent colours of autumn and the fading splendour of summer. Inspired by oriental musical influences, Sibelius’s Belshazzar’s Feast shimmers with fascinating orchestral colours and winding melodies. Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Autumn Gardens, meanwhile, transports listeners into an English garden. In the composer’s own words: “Autumn is also the season of foliage, frost and death. Thus, at the end, the music becomes a solemn dance, con grandezza. Perhaps one hears a sarabande for the dying bloom of summer – or, in the words of T.S. Eliot, ‘late roses filled with early snow’.” The evening’s conductor, Nicolò Umberto Foron, has been named one of the “30 Under 30” artists of 2025, giving audiences the chance to experience one of the most promising young talents of his generation.