Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony

Written at a time when opera was perceived as the acme of musical expression, Saint-Saëns's Symphony No. 3 "summoned the full emotive forces of the symphonic orchestra and organ to achieve the purest form of expression — untethered to text, story line, or characters," as it's put in a press release about tonight's performance of the piece by the Cleveland Orchestra. The concert takes place at 7:30 tonight at Mandel Concert Hall. A performance takes place at 8 tomorrow night too.