The return each season of Günther Herbig, the NSO’s highly esteemed Conductor Laureate, is always a much-anticipated event, especially when he conducts music from the Austro-German repertory. His first concert opens with a little-known but effervescent overture by Weber, Abu Hassan, whose story is derived from a tale from the Arabian Nights. Then comes Mozart’s light-hearted, alluring Concerto for Flute and Harp, music of marvelous melodies and shimmering textures. The soloists are NSO principals. And finally, Mahler’s towering Titan Symphony, one of the most sensational and innovative First Symphonies ever created. Strings swirl and rage, woodwinds in their highest registers scream in anguish, brass proclaim terrifying fanfares, and percussion evoke the din of battle and cataclysmic conflicts. The symphony’s final pages have the orchestra gleaming in a thousand dazzling colors and audiences thrilled with delight.

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