At the Konzerthaus Stadthalle, the stage is finally clear again for top international orchestras: the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from Stockholm, which has been celebrated on several international tours in recent years, and its chief conductor Ryan Bancroft are bringing along the commissioned work "Beast Sampler" by their compatriot Anders Hillborg (*1954) and Gustav Mahler's First Symphony, which is as rich in imagery as it is grandiose. A work whose existential range encompasses idyllic nature, visions of hell and sublime ecstasy of joy and whose sound ranges from soloistic intimacy to massed tutti sounds, i.e. something close and distant. Clara-Jumi Kang, the Mannheim-born star violinist, is the soloist in Édouard Lalo's folkloric-tinged "Symphonie espagnole", in which Iberian coloring and violinistic pyrotechnics form a convincing blend.