Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Overture, Arias and Ballet Music from Idomeneo
Benjamin Britten Les Illuminations
Franz Schubert Symphony in B minor D 759 "Unfinished"
Conductor Sir Roger Norrington/ Tenor Ian Bostridge

The MCO's appearance in Brussels follows the rehearsal period, orchestra concert and chamber music performance in the MCO residence city of Cologne. After today's concert, the musicians return to their various home cities throughout Europe.

The European Union made the MCO its official "Cultural Ambassador" earlier this year. With its multi-national membership and the broad international reach of its activities, the MCO promotes intercultural dialogue and the mobility of the arts and music across borders. This gives the orchestra's appearance in the European capital city special significance.

The common cultural heritage of Europe can be traced throughout the continent's history. Wandering artists of many nations have always worked to combine and reinvent diverse traditions, making an essential contribution to intercultural understanding among European peoples. Mozart's Idomeneo is a particularly clear example: The opera originated as piece about the Cretan king Idomeneo commissioned by the court in Munich. The cleric Giambattista Varesco from Salzburg based the libretto on a French textbook which he translated into Italian. For his part, Mozart drew on the traditions of the Italian aria di bravura, French ballet music and - in the overture - the German sonata form in the work.

This project is Sir Roger Norrington's first collaboration with the MCO. Ian Bostridge last performed with the MCO in a concert performance of the opera Idomeneo in Salzburg in 2005. He also sings the Prologue on the award-winning recording of Britten's opera The Turn of the Srew, released in 2002 on the Virgin label.

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