Brussels Philharmonic, Michel Tabachnik

Without any orchestral introduction, the cello gives an abrupt wake-up call in this concerto by Saint-Saëns: thereafter, the orchestra and the cellist spend twenty minutes engaged in a fierce and then lyrical pas de deux. Time to catch one’s breath: zero. After that, there is time enough. Time for Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4: a masterpiece by a late bloomer, a manifestation of patience, an ode to courtly love. Still one of his most popular symphonies.

Flagey, Brussels Philharmonic