NSOI: Jonas Alber conducts Mahler Five

National Symphony Orchestra Ireland
Jonas Alber, conductor 
Baiba Skride, violin 

Britten Violin Concerto 
Mahler Symphony No. 5 

The shimmering intensity of Britten’s Violin Concerto meets the sweeping drama of Mahler’s majestic Symphony No. 5 as revered conductor Jonas Alber and celebrated violinist Baiba Skride make welcome returns to National Symphony Orchestra Ireland for two essential masterpieces. 

Marking the 50th anniversary this year of Britten’s death, his concerto is a searing exploration and expression of conflict and longing, with virtuosic solo passages and poignant lyricism culminating in a mesmerising finale. 

Baiba Skride’s recording of the work was lauded for its ‘melting beauty, propulsive energy and muscular anguish’ (The Strad). 

Intensely poetic, deeply personal, Mahler’s Fifth Symphony is a love letter in music, an extended serenade in one long, hypnotic breath.

Moving from funereal bleakness to transcendent joy, at its heart is a gravity-free Scherzo and the sublime, ever-popular Adagietto, famously brought to a wider audience in Luchino Visconti’s iconic 1971 film, Death in Venice.

Presented by NCH