Ligeti’s Tightrope,
Wagner’s Gift

György Ligeti's violin concerto is an event not to be missed: intricate, sometimes humorous, sometimes searing, and fiendishly difficult for soloist and ensemble. A total change of pace follows: Wagner's beloved Siegfried-Idyll a birthday gift for his wife, Cosima, first performed on Christmas morning, 1870. And to conclude, a sparkling neo-classical Stravinsky masterpiece from 1942, written for the concert hall, but conceived as an "abstract ballet".