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Mahler pictured his Fourth Symphony unfolding under skies that ‘shine eternally blue’ – and from the sleighbells with which it opens to its final, childlike vision of heaven, it is outwardly the happiest symphony he ever wrote. But he knew that life is more complicated than that, and in a Prom that begins with Caroline Shaw’s contemporary take on the music of the 18th century, and stars the ‘compelling’ Clara-Jumi Kang in Mendelssohn’s bittersweet Violin Concerto, there’s always something more, hidden just below the surface. Soprano Miah Persson makes Mahler’s vision shine, and the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ National Orchestra of Wales shows the full scope of its blossoming relationship with Principal Conductor Ryan Bancroft.

Image: Miah Persson © Reka Choy