Orchestre symphonique de Montréal

Rafael Payare, conductor
Leonidas Kavakos, violin
Orchestre symphonique de Montréal

MOUSSA: Elysium
TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35
STRAVINSKY: The Firebird (full ballet)

The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, led by Music Director Rafael Payare, presents a program of radiant color and boundless imagination. The evening opens with Canadian-German composer Samy Moussa’s Elysium, an orchestral meditation on the afterlife as a luminous plane of peace and moral fulfillment. With its vast soundscapes and glowing harmonies, the piece invites reflection on beauty, transcendence, and the human spirit’s eternal journey.

Next comes Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major, a timeless masterpiece of Romantic expression. Brimming with lyricism, exuberance, and dazzling virtuosity, the concerto moves from soaring melodies and poetic intimacy to fiery brilliance. Its seamless balance of tenderness and vitality has made it one of the most treasured works in the violin repertory.

The concert concludes with Stravinsky’s The Firebird, performed in its complete ballet version. Written for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, the score dazzles with its glittering orchestration, magical storytelling, and ecstatic finale. This mythical tale of light overcoming darkness launched Stravinsky’s career and remains one of the most exhilarating creations in all music.

From Moussa’s modern radiance to Tchaikovsky’s passion and Stravinsky’s fire, Payare and the OSM offer an unforgettable journey of imagination and triumph.

Please note: the San Diego Symphony Orchestra does not appear on this Jacobs Music Center Special Presentation.