Season Finale: Strauss’ “Metamorphosen” with Gábor Takács-Nagy

Artistic Partner Gábor Takács-Nagy returns for another consecutive season finale leading the orchestra for a program that touches on many of our 2025.26 season themes, including the idea of music and art as hope and light. Written in the final and darkest days of World War II, Richard Strauss’ monumental and emotional “Metamorphosen” mourns the corruption and destruction of German culture. This musical response to fascism, written for 23 strings, depicts a transformation from pain and darkness to hope and light, with homages to his German predecessors including Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. As our final piece, Robert Schumann’s “Rhenish” Symphony references the flow of the Rhine River and the ceaseless flow of time — a natural bookend to our 2025.26 season, which is framed by a quote from Schumann himself: “To send light into the depths of the human heart — this is the artist’s calling.”

You may also like the following events from The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra:

• Next Friday, 12th September, 07:00 pm, Opening Weekend: Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony with Thomas Zehetmair in St Paul
• This month, 19th September, 11:00 am, EXPRESS CONCERT: Bach’s First Orchestral Suite in Eden Prairie
• This month, 20th September, 07:00 pm, EXPRESS CONCERT: Bach’s First Orchestral Suite in Saint Paul

Also check out other Arts events in Saint Paul, Music events in Saint Paul, Entertainment events in Saint Paul.