31st August means András Schiff, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Myung-whun Chung.
As one of the top five orchestras in the world and a guarantee of absolute quality, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra comes back to to Stresa with two outstanding artists: Sir András Schiff, already acclaimed by the Stresa audience in 2020, and Korean conductor Myung-whun Chung, perhaps the most ‘zen’ conductor we can encounter on the musical scene.
Among the most exciting dates in the 63rd edition of the Festival, 31 August is definitely one to mark in your diary. On stage in Stresa Festival Hall will be the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, considered one of the top five orchestras in the world, back in Stresa all this time after its first concert here in 1988.
Always aiming for perfection, astounding and arousing listeners with the beauty of symphonic music, the Concertgebouw constantly aims for the best possible sound, and has earned its place for 135 years among the best orchestra in the world.
We are honored and proud to see the Orchestra back at the Stresa Festival, and its very name is a guarantee of absolute quality!
The evening’s program is as impressive as the Orchestra’s reputation. Starting with Weber’s Ouverture to his Franco Cacciatore, it then lists Brahms’ Fourth Symphony and Beethoven’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.
The oustanding pianist is Sir András Schiff, applauded by the audience in Stresa in 2020, and acclaimed throughout the world for his interpretations of a vast piano repertoire. He enjoys fame as a pianist, and also as an orchestra conductor, teacher and speaker. The Boston Globe called him one of the most penetrating and serious maestri of the keyboard the public will ever hear, and Sir András still manages to amaze audiences and critics.
He fosters new talent, especially through his series Building Bridges, which offers promising young musicians opportunities to perform. He also teaches at the Accademie Barenboim-Said and Kronberg and holds frequent conferences and masterclasses. In 2017 Bärenreiter & Henschel published his book Music Comes from Silence, a collection of texts and conversations with Martin Meyer.
Myung-whun Chung from Korea, conducting this very special evening, is here in the Festival for the first time. A follower of Carlo Maria Giulini, who more than anyone else illustrates the ‘mystic aura’ around the figure of an orchestra conductor, Myung-whun Chung captures the depth of each piece of music, seeking its very essence! Add to this the oriental tradition and the depth of concentration this culture fosters, this conductor is surely the most zen of them all!
Myung-Whun Chung’s long and exceptional musical career is marked by his nomination as Direttore Emerito della Filarmonica della Scala in Milan in 2023, the first such appointment. Another interesting appointment is as the Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
