Kansas City Symphony: Matthias Pintscher & Conrad Tao - Brahms' Second Symphony

Kansas City Symphony: Matthias Pintscher & Conrad Tao - Brahms' Second Symphony at Helzberg Hall - Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

Fire and tranquility meet at Helzberg Hall when Matthias Pintscher leads the Kansas City Symphony through three very different conversations. Debussy's Rondes de printemps opens the afternoon, then Pintscher's own NUR arrives for its first Kansas City performance. Its title is the Hebrew and Arabic word for fire, and Conrad Tao plays piano in the work. Tao joined the Symphony's 2024 European tour; here, that connection meets a local first.

Then comes Brahms' Second Symphony, and the emotional landscape shifts completely. The work refuses to sit still. Tranquil passages give way to rambunctious energy, mysterious moods shade into melancholy, idyllic moments arrive, and the symphony finds its way to triumph. It's the kind of piece that reminds you why symphonies exist: to move through feelings no single mood can hold.

Pintscher conducts music he composed alongside music Brahms and Debussy left behind, three composers separated by time but united by the same orchestra, the same hall, the same afternoon. With Pintscher conducting NUR himself and Tao at the piano, this first Kansas City performance puts the composer and soloist at the center of the afternoon.

At Helzberg Hall in Kansas City, Missouri, Debussy, Pintscher and Brahms offer three different reasons to settle in for the afternoon. Make April 4 your afternoon for NUR's local debut and Brahms' shifting moods; find tickets to the concert.