Herbert Blomstedt, the Orchestra’s Honorary Conductor Laureate, is among the conducting world’s living giants, an elder statesman of the podium with a truly international stature.

For the first of their two-concert residency at the 2016 International Festival, they perform Bruckner’s mighty Fifth Symphony, noble, expansive and humbling in its devotional power. Beforehand, respected international violinist Julian Rachlin is the soloist in Bach’s inventive, imaginative and thoroughly virtuosic Violin Concerto in E major.

Few ensembles can more justifiably be regarded as a true custodian of German musical culture. ★★★★★

Bachtrack