Get ready for a Wagner-Strauss power hour when maestro Vladimir Jurowski brings Bavaria's finest orchestra to town - the legendary Bayerisches Staatsorchester is serving up Tannhäuser's dramatic overture and Strauss' mischievous Till Eulenspiegel, with rising star Aigul Akhmetshina's smoky mezzo voice weaving through Wesendonck Lieder. This is German romanticism at its most opulent, from an ensemble that's been perfecting these works since 1523

The Bavarian State Orchestra isn't just old - it's the OG of opera pit bands, having premiered Wagner's Tristan and Mozart's Idomeneo. Their current music director Jurowski (fresh off a knighthood from King Charles) conducts with both precision and wild abandon, while 28-year-old phenom Akhmetshina brings the sultry charisma that's made her the Met's new favorite Carmen.

Don't expect museum-piece interpretations - these musicians play Strauss' Rosenkavalier suite with the same dangerous swagger they brought to its 1911 premiere. Between Wagner's forbidden love themes and Strauss' waltzing champagne bubbles, this program bottles everything decadent and delightful about German late-romantic music.

Program:

• Wagner - Tannhäuser Overture (Dresden version)
• Wagner - Wesendonck Lieder
• Strauss - Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks
• Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier Suite