| Ádám Fischer | Musikalische Leitung |
| Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha | Sopran |
| Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment |
‘The Wilderness Pleases’ is inspired by one of the many influential pieces of work to come out of the Enlightenment era; Shaftesbury’s ‘The Moralists.’
In the book, the main character Theocles describes the terror of encountering a group of crocodiles in an Egyptian desert. After escaping the monsters, he is overcome with a desire to admire them as wondrous creatures of the natural world. He says,
‘let us fly to the vast deserts of these parts […] ghastly and hideous as they appear they want not their peculiar beauties. Wilderness pleases.’
Continuing the season theme of ‘Wilderness Pleases’, in this concert we turn our focus to the pleasing wilderness in heaven in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, conducted by Ádám Fischer. The lyrics of this ethereal symphony presents a child’s vision of heaven, complete with gardens brimming with fruits and vegetables and fishes swimming in a pond. At a time when our news feeds are filled with reports of disasters, disease and damage to our planet, Mahler’s symphony invites us to engage once more with our childlike joy in nature and treasure what we have.