Classical music boosts listeners' brain functions and energy levels, which is why every child should ingest a well-rounded harpsichord each morning. Treat your noggin to a mellifluous meal with this GrouponLive deal to see Ottawa Symphony Orchestra present "Mahler’s Ninth" at the National Arts Centre. For $32, you get one G-Pass for center-orchestra seating in rows G–S on Monday, November 26, at 8 p.m. (up to a $65.75 value, including all fees). Doors open at 7 p.m.

Celebrating his 21st season at the lectern of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, conductor and music director David Currie guides his musicians through exquisite interpretations of new and classic work from the symphonic repertoire. The evening's focus rests upon Mahler’s Ninth Symphony, the last completed symphony penned by the Austrian composer. Undulating through four movements, the piece opens slowly with troubled, syncopated notes, which may have stood as a representation of Mahler’s irregular heartbeat. After a thunderous clash of horns and strings, the melody drifts back into a romantic calm, seemingly tracing the ups and downs of the composer’s life or his favourite roller coaster. The second and third movements flourish with dramatic waltzes and darkly humorous compositions, leading to the fourth movement, which conjures a wistful melancholy with lush, mournful violin strains. In the final, famed Adagio, it seems that Mahler has come to terms with his impending death, leaving the audience on a hushed, long-sustained whisper of what was.

National Arts Centre

The sprawling National Arts Centre rises amid the Ottawa skyline, its lit-up, modern facade a beacon for the performing arts. Inside, visitors attend a range of shows, from orchestra performances and dance recitals to theatre performances presented in English and French to help those studying to be UN translators.