Klaus Mäkelä conducts Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade and Diepenbrock's Lydische Nacht

As 2025 nears its close, the world-renowned Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra takes the stage for their 50th Christmas Matinee — a holiday concert of cinematic grandeur led by their next chief conductor, Klaus Mäkelä! Their program begins with what will be, for many listeners, an unexpected treat: the little-performed Lydische Nacht (Lydian Night) by Dutch composer Alphons Diepenbrock, which conveys the awe of a divine encounter and the simple bliss of a new dawn with rich instrumentation and entrancing motifs. Another famously evocative work follows: Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, named for the narrator of the One Thousand and One Nights, whose iconic melodies and sweeping orchestral gestures suggest nobility, bravery, swashbuckling romance, and endless adventure — the perfect epic soundtrack for a cozy Christmas by the fire.