KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 — The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) is all set to spellbind its audience with a presentation of a delightful programme of musical gems next weekend at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas.

The programme offers a combination of the familiar and unfamiliar.

Edvard Grieg’s incidental music to Peer Gynt — a poetic drama written by Norway’s most famous playwright, Ibsen — is atmospheric, beautifully written and the best known in the entire repertory.

Written in 1876, the sights, sounds and folklore of Norway are deeply embedded in this music.

Yasushi Akutagawa’s Triptyque for String Orchestra is a powerful and energetic work with a lullaby, written for his daughter.

In this work, there are also rhythmic patterns meant to imitate traditional Japanese drumming at a festival.

Also included in the repertoire list is Symphony No. 6 written by Swedish composer Kurt Atterberg for a competition held in Vienna in 1928.

He won the grand prize of US$10,000 (RM41,300), hence the nickname Dollar Symphony.

Maestro Junichi Hirokami, who is leading the MPO in these concerts, have himself led the recording of the Dollar Symphony.

The Tokyo-born conductor returns to DFP after his collaboration with the MPO in 2000.

He has had experiences collaborating with orchestras around the world including the Wiener Symphoniker, Royal Concertgebouw, Berlin Radio Symphony and London Symphony, including those from Japan.

A professor at the Tokyo College of Music, he is also a prolific conductor in the opera world.

Be caught up in a rapture with the MPO’s virtuosity On May 4 and 5 at 8.30pm and 3pm respectively.

Surf over to MPO for ticket rates and further info.