On Friday, 26 September 2025, at 8 pm, maestro Min Chung will conduct the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra at the Mehta hall.

The programme: Olivier Messiaen's “L'Ascension” and Camille Saint-Saëns' “Symphony No. 3 in C minor”.

Florence, 23 September 2025 – Following the success of the first concert after the summer break, conducted by Jérémie Rhorer, the autumn symphonic programme continues at the Teatro del Maggio: on Friday 26 September at 8 pm, maestro Min Chung returns to the podium of the Zubin Mehta hall with compositions by Olivier Messiaen and Camille Saint-Saëns.

Min Chung, who made his debut at the Maggio in February 2024 with a double concert, trained in Paris, where he studied double bass, violin and piano. During his career, he has already conducted important ensembles such as the Orchestra Nazionale Sinfonica della RAI, the Wiener Kammerorchester, the Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano and the Tokyo Philharmonic.

The concert opens with L'Ascension, four symphonic meditations for orchestra, by Olivier Messiaen. Composed in 1933, L'Ascension was first performed in Paris in February 1935. Messiaen's first major symphonic work, its subtitle is “Quatre Meditations symphoniques pour orchestre”. - L'Ascension was also arranged for organ by the composer himself in 1935, with a different third movement. However, even in the symphonic version, there is an underlying organistic aura, as the composer sometimes seems to treat the orchestra in such a way as to simulate the different organ registers and the solemn and spiritual sounds of the instrument. The title alludes to the feast of Christ's Ascension and is explicitly linked to the composer's Catholic faith, but expressed through musical symbolism that has nothing strictly liturgical about it.

The concert concludes with Camille Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78. Composed in the winter of 1885–1886, it was performed in London at the Philharmonic Society on 19 May 1886, conducted by the composer himself, and dedicated to Franz Liszt. The thematic structure of the entire symphony, divided in a very original way into two movements - even though it embodies the traditional four-movement architecture - reveals the presence of the first notes of the Dies Irae, although Saint-Saëns departs from this “liturgical” sequence, infusing the symphony with a heroic and grandiose spirit.

Andrea Severi was the organ soloist during the performance of Camille Saint-Saëns' piece.