Dvořák's Symphony No. 5 

Calliope Tsoupaki—former composer-in-residence of the Netherlands and a close associate of the Residentie Orkest —explores in*Falling* howwe seek meaning anew in a world that has become unstable. The piece is compact—just thirteen minutes long—yet intense and full of movement. Mahler then draws the emotion inward with one of his best-known song cycles: theRückert Lieder. Five miniature reflections in which longing, tranquility, self-examination, and melancholy are laid bare without drama. Barbara Kozelj makes the songs almost tangible with her warm, resonant mezzo voice. 

In*Thin Air*, Tsoupaki’s second work of the evening, we return to a piece born of compassion and solidarity. Originally written during the COVID-19 pandemic (and premiered in this orchestral version by the * Residentie Orkest *), it is so timeless that it may resonate even more powerfully now than it did then. Dvořák’s fascinatingFifthconcludes the evening not with spectacle, but with sunlight: warm-blooded, playful, dancing. A symphony that smells of grass, earth, sun, and evening air. It is Dvořák at his most open, most free, and most blissful. Conductor Antony Hermus weaves a wonderful, breathing program between Tsoupaki’s air and Dvořák’s earth. 

This concert is part of the Festival “ Dag in de Branding.”