Semperoper Dresden: Daniele Gatti conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden, with Gautier Capuçon

Blending sonic mysticism with maritime contemplation, this concert unites German and French Romanticism in a way that is both rich in contrasts and affinities. Richard Wagner’s music from “Parsifal” and “Tristan und Isolde” transports us into worlds of redemption and Liebestod (love death), metaphysical silence and burning ecstasy. Between these works come two French masterpieces that create their own unique sensuality: Camille Saint-Saëns’ First Cello Concerto is a virtuoso and dramatic concert piece without symphonic pretensions, while Claude Debussy’s “La Mer” is an impressionistic naturalistic panorama, full of movement and refracting sunlight. The Cello Concerto is interpreted by Gautier Capuçon, a master of the warm, cantabile tone.