Published: 10 October 2012
Category: Artists

Marin Alsop makes her Viennese debut with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at the Musikverein on October 14. Her 'From the New World' programme begins with Barber’s Essay No.2 and culminates in Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony. 

As part of her Dvořák cycle with her own Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Alsop’s recording of this symphony received outstanding critical praise: “It is rare to be able to say that a performance forces one to listen to a work anew, but this is exactly what Alsop’s reading achieves” (BBC Music Magazine, Disc of the Month, July 2008). Denis Kozhukhin, also making his debut with the orchestra, plays Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.2. Kozhukhin has been a regular soloist for Marin Alsop, since she conducted him in the 2010 final of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, which he won.

On October 18, Marin Alsop makes her debut with the Orchestre National de France at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris. Here she conducts Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony – “an Alsop speciality” (James Jolly, Gramophone). Writing about a recent performance with Alsop’s orchestra in São Paulo, Jolly also commented: “...a work that perfectly demonstrated the chemistry between conductor and players – and the space in which it was being played. Every instrument shone through with clarity…” Also in the concert, soloist Sol Gabetta plays HaydnCello Concerto No.1.

While in Europe, Marin Alsop also visits the Royal Academy of Music in London on October 19 to be presented with the prestigious Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music, joining a select group of 300 distinguished musicians worldwide who hold this award. At a special ceremony at Duke’s Hall, Alsop conducts the Academy Concert Orchestra in Barber Symphony No.1.

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