The work of Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, who has been living in Paris since 1986, is pervaded by dreams, magical, nocturnal sounds and myths. Her music has also been shaped by the tonal nature of her Finnish home. “When I think of Finland, I remember the wonderful changes in the light. Everything is striking. Nature creates its own acoustics.” In Ciel d’hiver (English: Winter Sky) from her orchestra work on the celestial hunter Orion, a high, cold, heavenly sound stretches out: a solo by the small flute, circling harp glissandi and unreal string sounds. Individual events flash up like stars in the atmospheric sound surfaces of the orchestra’s extreme high or low registers.

The romantic piano concerto by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg and the 2nd symphony by Kaija Saariaho’s compatriot Jean Sibelius, with its warm and organic unfolding, round off this concert programme inspired by Nordic realms. It serves as an introduction to French conductor Ariane Matiakh in Hanover. She has won over the audiences and musicians of numerous orchestras as a conductor of both concerts and opera with her varied programmes, technical precision and musical enthusiasm.

The soloist at the opera house will be the Palestinian-Israeli pianist Saleem Abboud Ashkar, who has been at home on the world’s major concert stages ever since his debut in New York’s Carnegie Hall at the age of 22. As artistic director of the Galilee Chamber Orchestra, he also promotes relations between the Arabic and Jewish communities in Israel.