Orchestre symphonique de Montréal / Alisa Weilerstein / Rafael Payare

In her cello concerto »Dzonot« – tailor-made for the evening’s cellist Alisa Weilerstein – Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz evokes the beauty of her country’s nature: mystical caves with sacred pools, the jaguar roaming elegantly through the forests and jade-coloured rivers meandering through the landscape.

»My God, how difficult it is to play!« Claude Debussy was rather proud of his »L’isle joyeuse« because he managed to transfer his colourful soundscapes to the black and white keys. The image of the »island of joy« becomes even more colourful when a large orchestra shares the notes.

Even though Richard Strauss composed in a completely different style, he was just as knowledgeable about orchestral colours as his French colleague. For his symphonic poem »Ein Heldenleben«, he used the entire orchestral range: eight horns, five trumpets, four woodwinds, lavish percussion and a huge string orchestra recount the battle of a hero against his adversaries – or Strauss describing his own battle against his critics?