James Conlon | conductor
Orchestra della Toscana
Franz Schubert Symphony n.4 D417 ‘Tragica’
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony n.5 op.67
American of Lucanian origins, Conlon is an authentic star: formerly at the helm of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Paris Opera, the Rai National Symphony Orchestra, guest conductor at the Metropolitan in New York (where he led almost three hundred performances), currently he is the head of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Baltimore Symphony. However, he always tends to avoid star poses and spotlights; what interests him are the coherence and cultural relevance of his programs.
On the podium of the Orchestra della Toscana, a team of which he is honorary conductor, the Maestro will perform two pages from the early nineteenth century composed in the same city, Vienna, a few years apart from each other:
Beethoven’s Symphony n.5 and Schubert’s Symphony No. 4, known asTragic . With the Fifth , a Beethoven in full creative fervor shapes an absolute masterpiece, grandiose and concise, which speaks with titanic vigor to the listener. Instead the Schubert of the Fourth , conceived as a school essay, is a nineteen year old who, not daring to be inspired by Beethoven, looks at the more manageable models of Haydn and Mozart.
