The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra at La Scala
The season of Milan’s Società del Quartetto is getting underway; in Turin, the Unione Musicale’s season is opening
One of Europe’s leading orchestras, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, returns to La Scala after almost ten years, accompanied by its music director from the 2023/24 season, Simon Rattle (formerly chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 16 years and of the London Symphony Orchestra for 6). Also in Milan, at the Conservatoire, the season of the illustrious Società del Quartetto gets underway: Beatrice Rana, one of today’s leading pianists, will open the season. In Turin, too, the season of one of the leading concert societies, the Unione Musicale, is getting under way.
Milan
On the 11th at La Scala, one of the great orchestras, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, will perform with its music director from the 2023–24 season, Simon Rattle. The orchestra has not performed on the Piermarini stage since 2017; nor, for that matter, anywhere in Italia. The evening will open with Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3, featuring pianist Stephen Hough, who has recorded all of the Russian composer’s concertos. It is particularly interesting to have Rattle on the podium, because the Third is by no means a ‘piano plus accompaniment’ concerto: it has a sophisticated orchestral structure. This will be followed by the rare ‘Funeral Song’ that Stravinsky composed in 1908; and then *The Rite of Spring*, allowing us to appreciate the incredible evolution of the young Igor over the course of just five years.
The Società del Quartetto’s season gets underway on the 13th at the Conservatoire, featuring pianist Beatrice Rana with a carefully curated programme ranging from Bach to Chopin and Debussy, including the first book of the ‘Études’ – a wonderful opportunity to rediscover one of the French composer’s finest achievements. A season of 18 concerts, featuring both great soloists and chamber music, serving as a laboratory for metaphysical exploration even before it is one for music, where dialogue, empathy and musical collaboration become a metaphor for a utopia of civil coexistence. Rana will be followed by the eagerly awaited returns of other pianists such as Emanuel Ax (16 February), Pierre-Laurent Aimard (6 April) and Filippo Gorini (11 May). Like the latter, the debuts of Alexander Gadjiev (16 March), with a programme reflecting his cosmopolitan identity, and Eric Lu (9 February), winner of the latest Chopin Competition and a pianist of extraordinary interpretative wisdom, also form part of this generational renewal.
The chamber music aspect is showcased in the complete cycle of Beethoven’s string quartets, which the Quatuor Ébène is continuing (17 November, 12 January, 4 May); in the Eberle, Hagen and Schuch trio (9 March); with cellist Ettore Pagano – who recently won the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels – and Maximilian Kromer (1 December); with Gautier Capuçon leading a group of seven cellists (23 March); and featuring the voice of Barbara Hannigan (20 April).
Turin
The Unione Musicale season gets underway on 21 October at the Conservatoire. The young Russian pianist Arsenii Moon, winner of the 64th Busoni Competition in 2023, will open the season. The jury also unanimously awarded him the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Prize – which had not been awarded for almost thirty years – and the audience tuning in from all over the world presented him with the Audience Award. A splendid programme, featuring works by Debussy, Scriabin and Chopin.
