Ludwig van Beethoven Egmont Overture op. 84
Franz Joseph Haydn Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major Hob. VIIe:1
HK Gruber Busking for trumpet, accordion, banjo and string orchestra
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony no. 7 in A major op. 92
Conductor Andris Nelsons / Trumpet Hakan Hardenberger / Accordion Claudia Buder / Banjo Mats Bergström

The first tour of the year 2013 leads the MCO from its Ferrara Residence to Vienna, Berlin, Luxembourg, Friedrichshafen, and Baden-Baden. This tour is the orchestra's long-awaited debut with young Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons, one of the most sought-after conductors of concert and opera repertoire in the international music scene.

The programme comprises works by Beethoven, Haydn and HK Gruber – representatives from the first and third Viennese schools. The classics Haydn and Beethoven frame HK Gruber's 2008 piece Busking. "A performance piece with pulsating drive, which was great fun for the audience", noted the Neue Ruhr Zeitung after the first performance in Cologne. Håkan Hardenberger inspired Gruber to write this piece; it is dedicated to Hardenberger, who also performed the solo trumpet part at the premiere. HK Gruber explains the unusual instrumentation, which also features banjo and accordion as solo instruments:

"Trumpet and strings create for me a sound that is reminiscent of the Baroque. In order to avoid this, I proposed using banjo and accordion as alienating elements. The banjo functions as a harpsichord, the accordion is like the organ of the street. I aimed to reference my mob pieces from the 60s, hence the title Busking, with its overtones of street music; there's also an association to Picasso's 1921 painting Three Musicians through the Spanish root 'buscar'."