Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Daniel Harding

One old, one new: the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra perform two works fraught with tension, shrouded in darkness, and finally, a breakthrough to the beyond. The tumultuous rollercoaster of life is one we can all relate to, but perhaps no-one writes it better than Mahler in his achingly haunting Symphony No 9: an ode to life, death, and the joys of the time in between. And we hear echoes of Mahler’s swooping melodies in Rick van Veldhuizen’s mais le corps taché d'ombres, alongside the tightly knit counterpoint of Berg and Ligeti. The sounds of 1970s disco divas are in there too, because what is life without a dance? Beginning fragmented and isolated, mais le corps is a spider’s web of phrases drifting towards a final unity.

It’s been six years since the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra were last resident here, and what a lot we’ve all been through since. Tonight is surely a reminder to enjoy what you have while you have it, and there’s no better way to do that than through music.