Berlioz’s utterly spectacular Symphonie fantastique is not to be missed — a gripping masterpiece of nightmares and satanic rituals which shocked audiences at its premiere. New Zealand composer Louise Webster, meanwhile, meditates on the gruesome ‘tests’ used in historical trials for witchcraft.

Liszt’s Totentanz is a fantasia for piano and orchestra on an ancient musical symbol of Death, the Dies irae plain chant from the Requiem Mass. Kiwi pianist Sylvia Jiang returns to supply the profusion of pianistic fireworks.

Presented in association with ICBC