I have been playing in the Mahler Chamber Orchestra for 10 years and throughout the years, whenever arriving to Bologna Airport, it is always very comforting and it feels almost like coming home - the familiar and wonderful smell of coffee at the airport makes the happy feeling to be back in Italy! :-)
But do not take me wrong, it is not just the yummy food, which everyone in the orchestra enjoys so much, but also the friendly and appreciative audiences with their “BIS” demanding in our concerts and of course the great music making!
This time we started our project in Parma with rehearsals as well as having our first concert of the tour there, playing Schumann’s not very much known and not often played Overture “Genoveva”, Beethoven’s 4th Piano Concerto with Hélène Grimaud and Brahms 3rd symphony.
As Brahms has always been my favourite, it is fantastic to play this absolutely enriching music under Daniel Harding.
The concert we had in Parma was great, having a full hall - Auditorio Paganini - which made the acoustic even better, because when the Auditorio is empty from the audience, it is not so easy to find the very fine and round sound.
For those of you who have never been here it is a conversion of a former sugar factory, which I was told became too much of a scent for the growing residential neighbourhood, so it has moved to the outskirts of the city and instead of that it was decided to convert it into a concert hall. Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano using nowadays very popular glass for the walls behind the stage and on the opposite side behind the audience, together with wood and steel it has a very impressive visual side, especially when rehearsing during the day, having in a way the luxury of daylight on stage, which does not happen often.
After 3 days in Parma our second concert was in Pistoia, in the Teatro Manzoni, where we played the second and last time of the tour with Hélène Grimaud.
As it was Saturday night the summer time was approaching and whether we wanted or not we had to move our clocks and get up really early next morning in order to fly to Budapest via Frankfurt.
I think I had only 4 hours of sleep, so it was a long day to arrive in our hotel. Unfortunately as it sometimes happens four of our cellists did not get their suitcases, but luckily there was a free evening, so no urgent need of the concert dress. They eventually got it in the very late night.
After our arrival and checking in at the hotel, we went to explore the city centre to have some home made Hungarian gulash, which was delicious!
Next morning rehearsing with Fazil Say was another fantastic musical experience and in a way it is a treat to get to play with such a musician, who lives every note with so much emotion and great intensity. I have been to his recital in Prague about 2 months ago and since then could not wait to hear him play again!
The National Concert Hall, where we had our concert, is in the heart of the newly built Palace of Arts and has the dimensions of a Gothic cathedral. The great acoustic of the Hall is the work of the distinguished ARTEC firm (New York), led by Russell Johnson.
That evening Fazil Say gave an incredible performance, having to play 2 encores. One of them was his own piece with effects of muted strings, which sounded like “Arabic” music and it was a total drawn into his world for many people in the audience as well as for us on stage.
Next morning we already had to leave to go back to Italy, giving the same evening I think one of the most amazing concerts of the whole tour in Bologna in Teatro Manzoni. The audience was completely taken already by the overture, continuing with another mesmerizing performance by Fazil Say, giving this time 3 encores, one of them was the Turkish march with jazz improvisation to it, which was totally stunning! The rhythm feeling he has and the timing in general in his playing is somehow just genius!
We finished our tour in Cremona in the cradle of the violin making.
For me it was definitely a fantastic musical experience on this unforgettable
tour and I feel very privileged to play with my colleagues in the MCO!
