Symphonic Heights

The confidence of youth emanates from the first notes of the captivating Ballade for Orchestra written by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, an African-British composer who made a name for himself in 19th-century London. David Jalbert’s brilliant piano playing elevates Prokofiev’s demanding score to the sublime. On the podium, Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the orchestra for Sibelius’s fifth symphony, a unique piece with sweeping imagery and extraordinary drama.