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Thanksgiving and Transcendence
GIUSEPPE PENNISI listens to
orchestral and chamber concerts
at the Salzburg Summer Festival
During my stay in Salzburg last month, in addition to three fully staged operas and the marionette Ring, I selected two quite different concerts by widely travelled and internationally well known ensembles: a symphonic concert by the Gustav Mahler Jugend-Orchester conducted by Philippe Jordan (now artistic director of the Paris Opéra) and a chamber concert by the Hagen Quartet, given as part of a cycle of all the Beethoven string quartets. The choice was motivated not only by logistics -- ie selecting concerts fitting with my rather busy Salzburg schedule -- but also by the desire to listen to two quite different approaches.
The Gustav Mahler Jugend-Orchester is made up of young musicians selected after a keen competition among the instrumentalists of all the European Union countries. Created in 1986 at the initiative of Claudio Abbado, the orchestra has played under many well known conductors in the Union's main concert halls and also in some opera theatres; it has a long list of CDs and DVDs...
Copyright © 7 September 2013
Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
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