OPENING CONCERT: SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE

You can forget about energy-saving targets tonight: the pieces in this concert are so extravagant in their orchestral power and melodies that they break all usage limits.

Camille Saint-Saëns’s Second Piano Concerto battles its way from darkness toward light with dazzling virtuosity, while composer-in-residence Sauli Zinovjev’s Batteria shocks the senses like a thousand volts. Hector Berlioz, meanwhile, ushered in the Romantic era with his Symphonie fantastique. In this highly personal narrative, the music conjures up wild realities as the figure of the artist lingers at the volatile intersection of love and madness.

Anton Mejias, who is making a name for himself internationally, makes his debut as a soloist with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra. The Finnish-Cuban virtuoso pianist’s deeply moving interpretations have been heard both on a Bach album released by Deutsche Grammophon and in performance with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.