91Èȱ¬

One day in 1983, the troubled American composer Julius Eastman presented his ex-boyfriend with a rolled-up score – that of his Symphony No. 2. The music, which wasn’t seen again or performed until 2018, tells of their love and its disintegration in an orchestral language all of its own – part drone piece, part thematic symphony. The 91Èȱ¬ Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor Dalia Stasevska follows this remarkable work with Gustav Mahler’s songs on love, loneliness and withdrawal, sung by the inimitable Jamie Barton, and Sibelius’s most awe-inspiring symphony, the Fifth – his testament to nature’s capacity to embolden and console.

Broadcast live on 91Èȱ¬ Radio 3

Image: Dalia Stasevska © Veikko Kähkönen