Orchestral Dances with Håkan Hardenberger presented by Sydney Symphony Orchestra Tickets

No stranger to the spotlight, Hardenberger takes centre stage for Aerial, a work written with and for him by Austrian composer HK Gruber.

Described by the Chicago Tribune as ‘a weird, wondrous, exhilarating tour de force”, it’s a repertoire-expanding piece full of extended techniques and prismatic colours. Believe us when we say you have never heard anything like this theatrical and thoroughly enjoyable work.  

Gruber’s concerto explores the idea of dance, and that theme carries through the rest of the program. The suite from Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier is infused with the sweeping elegance of the Viennese waltz, while Ravel's La Valse evokes a similar scene through some of that composer’s most romantic music.   

With Hardenberger’s long-term collaborator Fabien Gabel conducting, this is a program that sidesteps the obvious in favour of the expressive. It’s a rare chance for lovers of brass to see one of the world’s best trumpet players showcasing the full range of the instrument, and then some, in an experience that expands the possibility of everything that can happen in a concert.