On January 30 and February 2, Susanna Mälkki returns to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, leading an emotional program that explores the complexities of death and what lies beyond. 

The concert opens with Franz Schubert’s mysterious two-movement Symphony No. 8, nicknamed the “Unfinished,” followed by the U.S. premiere of Kaija Saariaho HUSH. An LA Phil commission, HUSH is the composer’s self-proclaimed “journey to silence,” written during her final months with terminal brain cancer. The program closes with Richard Strauss’ lush Death and Transfiguration, which illustrates a man’s physiological and psychological deterioration.