The first major tour of the new year brings the MCO and an all-Beethoven programme to Toulouse, Metz, Paris and Aix-en-Provence. The programme is directed by the young Russian conductor Tugan Sokhiev. In Paris the soloist is David Fray with Piano Concerto no. 3, and in all other concerts Nicolas Angelich plays Piano Concerto no.5. In Toulouse, a pre-concert performance of chamber music with introductory talk is also on the schedule.
When the MCO plays Beethoven, superlative reviews follow not long after. In April 2008, Le Monde even used the phrase “the best orchestra in the world” after the ensemble debuted at the Teatro Real in Madrid with Fidelio. Since its founding, the orchestra has always placed special emphasis on Beethoven’s music and has played all nine symphonies with Principal Conductor Daniel Harding and also with orchestra founder Claudio Abbado.
With the Coriolan Overture, the two most popular Piano Concertos nos. 3 and 5, and the Symphony no.7, the MCO tours through France in early February. The four concerts will be conducted by 33-year-old Tugan Sokhiev, who regularly garners great attention in concert halls and newspapers worldwide. Sokhiev has worked regularly with the MCO since 2004. This artistic friendship will now be deepened in one of the conductor’s artistic home bases: in 2008 he was named music director of the Orchestra National du Capitole de Toulouse.
Toulouse is the city in which this MCO tour begins and where the rehearsal period takes place. In addition, a chamber music ensemble of MCO musicians will play Beethoven’s Septet for strings and winds in a pre-concert performance on 11 February. The piece will be preceded by an introductory talk, and students of the university Toulouse 1 Capitole can attend the event for free.
The MCO’s performance in Metz will be a debut in this city. Paris and Aix-en-Provence, by contrast, are familiar concert locations for the orchestra. The MCO served as orchestra-in-residence at the renowned opera festival in Aix-en-Provence for several weeks each summer from 1998 to 2007.
Both soloists, Nicholas Angelich (Piano Concerto no. 5 in Toulouse, Metz and Aix-en-Provence) and David Fray (Piano Concerto no.3 in Paris), give their debut performances with the MCO on this tour. Angelich was born in 1970 in the USA and began his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris at the age of 13. French pianist David Fray, born in 1981, also completed his studies in Paris. Fray, who places a focus on the German-Austrian tradition in his repertoire, has been honoured with numerous prizes – most recently with “Les Victoires de la musique classique” in 2010.
11 FEB / FRI 20:00 / TOULOUSE >>more 12 FEB / SAT 20:00 / METZ >>more 13 FEB / SUN 20:00 / PARIS >>more 15 FEB / TUE 20:30 / AIX-EN-PROVENCE >>more
