Photo by Todd Rosenberg

National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic

Michael Stern leads a triumphant conclusion to the 2019 festival with music by Anna Clyne, Richard Wagner and Gustav Mahler. Clyne’s turbulent This Midnight Hour is based on poetry of Juan Ramón Jiménez and Charles Baudelaire and evokes a surreal nocturnal scene. Wagner’s ethereal Prelude to Act I from Lohengrin paints a shimmering vision of angels and the Holy Grail, and answers questions regarding the purity and sanctity of love.

Mahler’s towering fifth symphony is an emotional journey from its exposed beginning to its triumphant finale. Departing from his earlier symphonies, which are strongly intertwined with Mahler’s vocal art song, Symphony No. 5’s style is gripping and passionate while expressing the vulnerability and intimacy of mankind’s struggle to rise in the face of adversity.