Star conductor leads the way

The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra returns to the capital for the first time since its first visit in 1996. This time the conductor is Briton Daniel Harding.

The orchestra is not that big of a name for most Chinese, but it is one of the best in Europe. In 2006, it received a Grammy Award for best orchestra performance and was named the sixth best orchestra in the world by The Gramophone magazine in 2008.

The orchestra has been famed for playing Bruckner's works, since its founder and first music director Eugen Jochum got the ball rolling. In 1999, its recording of Bruckner's 10 symphonies, with the then director Lorin Maazel, won wide acclaim.

For the Beijing concert, it will perform Bruckner's Fifth Symphony. It is also the first time the 90-minute symphony has been performed at the National Center for the Performing Arts.

7:30 pm March 9. National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 Xichang'an Jie, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6655-0000.