Occidentalis by Beckman, Benjamin, Summer Nights by Berlioz, An Alpine Symphony, op. 64 by Strauss, Od (2019/2019), Dirigent Antonio Pappano, Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom

Celebrated American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato is reunited with regular collaborator Sir Antonio Pappano to mark the 150th anniversary of Berlioz’s death with a performance of the composer’s sumptuous orchestral song-cycle Les nuits d’été – a musical journey from springtime love to cruellest loss. The National Youth Orchestra of the USA undertakes a journey of quite a different kind in Strauss’s monumental An Alpine Symphony, whose vast orchestral forces and massive soundscapes conjure up the craggy drama of the Bavarian Alps. The concert opens with a new work, by Benjamin Beckman, one of the NYO-USA’s two Apprentice Composers.