The concert opens with the Preludes to Acts I and III of Wagner's Lohengrin, two pieces engineered to excite the most exquisite yearning and all-out exhilaration. Then Malaysian virtuoso Tengku Irfan throws his "sheer incisiveness and power" [The New York Times] into the impish charm and pianistic thunder of Bartók's Piano Concerto No. 2. From the stormy opening measures to its triumphant close, the Brahms First Symphony is a riveting and unforgettable symphonic journey.