A poster for Friday's concert. Images courtesy of SZSO

This coming Friday, the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra (SZSO), led by honorary music director Christian Ehwald and starring British-American violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen, will perform a concert called “Whispers in the Dark.”

The program features Shostakovich’s “Chamber Symphony in C Minor” and “Symphony No. 6 in B Minor,” as well as Chausson’s “Poème.”

The first half begins with Shostakovich’s “Chamber Symphony,” a piece adapted from his renowned “String Quartet No. 8.” It resembles a personal diary in musical notes, recording the composer’s thoughts on art and life. Having served as SZSO’s artistic director from 2008 to 2016, Ehwald is particularly adept at interpreting such emotionally profound works.

Christian Ehwald.

Perhaps the most popular of all Chausson’s works, “Poème” bears all the characteristic trademarks of his music: gentle melancholy, restrained passion, reserve, delicacy, and exquisite craftsmanship. It is a one-movement rhapsodic work, about which Debussy said: “Nothing touches us more with dreamy sweetness than the end of this ‘Poème,’ where the music, leaving aside all description and anecdote, becomes the very feeling which inspired its emotion.” After a hazy introduction, the solo violin unfolds a long, elegant melody, gradually blossoming into a radiant brilliance before returning to the tranquility of the beginning.

British-American violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen.

Waley-Cohen is beloved by fans for her superb technique and sensitive musical storytelling. With an exceptionally broad repertoire and a particular enthusiasm for collaborating with contemporary composers, she promises to bring the emotional nuances of Chausson’s “Poème” to life.

In the second half of the concert, Ehwald will lead the orchestra in a heartfelt rendition of Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 6 in B Minor.” Composed in 1939, this piece showcases the charm of the composer’s style, in which lightness and depth coexist. Unlike his other symphonic works, the “Sixth Symphony” does not rely on titles or text, but speaks purely through music itself, seamlessly transitioning between contemplation and agility.

The symphony has a fascinating form: a long slow movement answered by two scherzos. When Shostakovich first played this symphony on the piano for friends in his Leningrad apartment, one of them commented that the last two movements sounded as though Rossini had returned in 20th-century guise. The composer once admitted that this work aimed to capture the essence of “spring, joy, and youth.”

Time: 8 p.m., Oct. 17

Tickets: 80-880 yuan

Venue: Shenzhen Concert Hall, Futian District (深圳音樂廳)

Metro: Line 3 or 4 to Children’s Palace Station (少年宮站), Exit D