Lahav Shani, Music Director
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 in A minor, op. 56, “Scottish”
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor, op. 64

Sponsored by Barbara Fremont

The Israel Philharmonic and Lahav Shani return to the desert to present this incredible program featuring two symphonies by two beloved composers. Mendelssohn composed the Scottish Symphony after an extensive tour of Scotland with his friend Karl Klingemann. Upon viewing the ruins of Queen Mary’s castle, he wrote, “I think I have found there the beginning of my ‘Scottish’ Symphony.” Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 came on the heels of an intense bout of depression, and its journey to a triumphant finale is an excellent example of the symphonic trajectory per aspera ad astra, “through struggle to the stars.”