Dark and stormy seas give way to sun-soaked skies during SFSO’s 28th season closer.

The awe-inducing rugged beauty of Fingal’s Cave, a sea cavern on the Isle of Staffa known for its natural acoustics, is the inspiration behind Mendelssohn’s stirring Hebrides Overture. Here, Mendelssohn deftly crafts a stunning portrait of Scotland’s crashing waves and misty and mysterious coastline, setting an early example of a tone poem (a standalone work that evokes a mood or sets a scene) in the process.

A solitary piano draws you into Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto and turns tradition on its head. This revolutionary work replaces bravado with vulnerability through a delicate dialogue between piano and orchestra that swells into grand passages of triumph and vitality.

Nature strikes again in Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, nicknamed the “Italian.” Influenced by the brilliant blue skies of Italy, this sunny work bristles with energy and warmth. Its finale, a Saltarello – a lively Italian folk dance – is said to be inspired by the composer’s own Roman carnival adventures, where he was even “pelted with sugar candies.”  Now, that’s a sweet way to say farewell to a remarkable season of music!