The Ravenna Festival’s preview
Wiener Philharmoniker
conductor Riccardo Muti
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt
(Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage) Op. 27
Johannes Brahms
Symphony no. 2 in D major Op. 73
Un poco sostenuto. Allegro
Andante sostenuto
Un poco allegretto e grazioso
Finale. Adagio. Più andante. Allegro non troppo, ma con brio
Riccardo Muti’s double bill marks a strong, age-old connection, a hand-in-glove relationship with the Wiener Philharmoniker. Subtle elective affinities bind the Italian conductor to the Austrian musicians: an agreement on style and intentions, a sharing of purposes, and a common background that go back fifty years. And then, there is a tradition that has seen the Wiener Philharmoniker as the most frequent foreign guest orchestra at the Ravenna Festival, featuring in its bill no less than ten times, including the unforgettable Mozart-Da Ponte trilogy at the Alighieri Theatre. Their eleventh return features a double bill with three precious milestones of XIX-century symphony: Mendelssohn’s Op. 27 inspired by Goethe’s diptych, Schumann’s Symphony no. 4 and Brahms’s Symphony no. 2.
