After the devastation of the First World War, Strauss chose to write a delightful escapist ballet, filled with dancing candy and whipped cream. Hartmann, on the other hand, responded to his experience during WWII and the start of the Cold War with an apocalyptic setting of Sodom and Gomorrah, warning that new dictators were unlikely to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors. Two composers, two very different responses to the brutality of the modern age.

Maestro Leon Botstein shares the stories behind the music in a lively 30-minute Conductor’s Notes Q&A at 1 PM in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. Free for all ticket holders.

• Lester Lynch, baritone