Paradise by Mahler, Crawford Seeger, Beethoven, Dv. 25 Ag. 2023, De (2023/2023), Director musical Finnegan Downie Dear, Adelaide Town Hall, Adelaide, Australia

Be transported to an idyllic world by the piano’s gentle, caressing opening notes of Beethoven’s concerto – this is music that breathes calm and contentment. Mahler’s richly textured symphony tells the story of a journey to a celestial afterlife. Along the way the music evokes magical lived experience – from sleigh bells to the sound of a street fiddler – and a rich inner life, with moments of aching tenderness and passion. The concert opens jubilantly, with a bracing orchestral square dance by a matriarch of the American folk movement.