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‘They want me to write differently,’ said Anton Bruckner. ‘Certainly I could, but I must not.’ And from its quiet opening pulse to its towering finish, it’s hard to imagine his mighty Sixth Symphony unfolding any other way: one man’s utterly individual voyage towards heaven, expressed in music of quiet wonder and mountainous grandeur. The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Philharmonic’s former Chief Conductor Juanjo Mena cares deeply about this symphony, and tonight it’s the climax of an evening that begins with Webern’s jewel-like setting of Bruckner’s great hero Bach, and the Viola Concerto by Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan, performed by its dedicatee Lawrence Power.

Image: Lawrence Power © Jack Liebeck