News
June 2006.
Maestro onstage with the Symphonica Toscanini in J...
Left to right: Pia Elda Locatelli, President of th...
Tom Farkas interviews Maestro Maazel at the Sympho...
Maestro Maazel and the Symphonica Toscanini Announce US Tour
Nov 28, 2006New York, NY. Maestro Maazel and the Symphonica Toscanini announced today at a press luncheon the details of their January 2007 coast-to-coast tour, including a joint concert with the New York Philharmonic 50 years to the day after Arturo Toscanini's death. The event also served to celebrate the creation of this new orchestra, formed in May 2006 from some of Europe's best young professional musicians, and based in Rome, Italy, and to introduce the various affiliate institutions, partners and sponsors who are providing the financial and organizational support for the orchestra's artistic programs. Joining Maestro Maazel in addressing the national and international press, and other invited guests, were the President of the Symphonica Toscanini Foundation, Pia Elda Locatelli, and the General Manager of the orchestra, Gianni Baratta. Elliott Forrest of WQXR-FM hosted the program from the Parker Meridien Hotel in midtown Manhattan.
Symphonica Toscanini’s “In the Footsteps of Toscanini - Symphony of the Air” tour, led by Music Director Lorin Maazel, commemorates the 50th anniversary of Arturo Toscanini’s death, and will take the orchestra to the United States, South America, Japan, and Israel to perform more than 40 concerts. In the United States, the tour (January 11-28, 2007) will follow the historical tours Maestro Toscanini made in 1920 with the Orchestra Arturo Toscanini and in 1950 (at the age of eighty-three) with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Symphonica Toscanini, an orchestra comprised of a rotating group of nearly 200 young virtuoso musicians, is quickly gaining an international reputation for the incomparable excellence of its performances.
Founded in Rome in May 2006, with Lorin Maazel as Music Director for Life, Symphonica Toscanini has already toured Russia, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. The orchestra is dedicated to the musical ideals and integrity embodied by the great conductor, Maestro Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957), whose many achievements include serving as music director of Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, New York’s Metropolitan Opera Company, the New York Philharmonic, and the NBC Symphony Orchestra.
“When I was asked to lead an ensemble whose ranks are drawn from some of the most awesomely gifted young soloists of our day, first as guest conductor and eventually as Music Director, I felt it incumbent upon me to accept the challenge. I'm glad I did,” said Music Director Lorin Maazel. “In recent tours in Europe and Asia these young people have realized their musical potential in an orchestral frame so stunningly as to bring audiences to their feet at the end of each concert cheering and lauding these sterling virtuosi and roaring for more. In presenting the Symphonica Toscanini in their first major U.S. tour, I revel in anticipation of the acclaim they will surely be accorded.”
About SYMPHONICA TOSCANINI
Symphonica Toscanini consists of a flexible group of musicians, numbering about 200, who alternate playing for the orchestra's varied projects. Most are Italian, many with international backgrounds. Though young, all have prior experience in other leading orchestras or as soloists. Mr. Maazel selected the members of the orchestra based not only on their professional qualities, but also on their motivation and artistic commitment. He had been able to observe the musicians firsthand since 2002, when he conducted many of them as members of the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini. When that experience drew to a close, the musicians and Mr. Maazel felt a deep solidarity that led them to form a new orchestra, the Symphonica Toscanini, which enables them to pursue their musical ideals autonomously in a spirit of ongoing cultural exchange. Orchestra members are chosen on a concert-by-concert basis, with no guarantee of permanent engagement. This remarkable model is a testament to the musicians’ belief in their professional skills, and their ability to work as a team.
The orchestra is managed by the Symphonica Toscanini Foundation, a private foundation created to serve the organizational needs of the ensemble, and headed by Pia Elda Locatelli, president and Gianni Baratta, general manager. In addition to its headquarters in Rome, the Foundation also has an office in Washington, DC. More international offices will open in 2007. Symphonica Toscanini does not owe its existence to annual state subsidies, but is funded through earned income, and the generosity of sponsor corporations and individuals.
The Tour
The 2007 Symphonica Toscanini tour title, “In the Footsteps of Toscanini - Symphony of the Air,” is inspired by the Symphony of the Air orchestra that formed after Maestro Toscanini’s retirement from the NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1954. Against many odds, the musicians of that orchestra regrouped and continued to perform together for nearly a decade. The U.S. portion of the tour begins on January 11 with a private performance at the Italian Embassy in Washington, DC. On January 12, the orchestra gives its first public concert in the U.S. at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. From there, Symphonica Toscanini travels to Delaware and New Jersey before arriving in New York for a joint concert with the New York Philharmonic on January 16. Symphonica Toscanini will then travel west to perform at Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, and at venues in Kansas, Nevada, and California. The orchestra will perform twice at the new Orange County Performing Arts Center’s Segerstrom Hall, and will close its tour on January 28 with a concert at the University of California at Berkeley.
A TRIBUTE TO TOSCANINI with the New York Philharmonic Featuring Guest Artist Soprano Renée Fleming on January 16.
The New York Philharmonic will honor the late conductor and former Philharmonic Music Director Arturo Toscanini with a special joint concert and Gala by the Philharmonic and Symphonica Toscanini. The concert will be a highlight of the tour, and will take place on the exact 50th anniversary of Toscanini’s death, January 16, 2007. The performance begins at 7:30 pm and will be conducted by Lorin Maazel, who is Music Director of both orchestras. Soprano Renée Fleming will be featured in works by Puccini, Cilea, Bellini, and Rossini. Arturo Toscanini led the New York Philharmonic from 1926—1945, serving as its Principal Conductor from 1928 to 1936. Proceeds from this Gala evening will go to establish the Arturo Toscanini Associate Conductor’s Chair at the New York Philharmonic.
Casa Verdi, Milan, established by Giuseppe Verdi in 1902 to better the lives of retired musicians and other performing artists, will also participate in the Gala, which is generously underwritten by UniCredit Group and Pioneer Investments. Honorary Chairmen are Walfredo Toscanini and Emanuela di Castelbarco — the grandchildren of Arturo Toscanini; Beverly Sills; and Antonio Bandini, Consul General of Italy. Gala Chairmen are Alberto Cribiore; Antonio Magnocavallo, Chairman, Casa Verdi; and Dieter Rampl, Chairman, UniCredit Group.
TOUR REPERTOIRE
The repertoire for the tour is heavily influenced by the programmatic choices of Arturo Toscanini. Toscanini was the first Italian conductor of world-class talent to establish himself as being equally committed and adept at performing both foreign and Italian works. He was well-known for his interpretation of the music of Wagner, Brahms, and Tchaikovsky, in addition to works by Italian masters such as Verdi, Rossini, Respighi, and Puccini. Maestro Maazel has selected repertoire steeped in this tradition for Symphonica Toscanini’s 2007 U.S. tour, including Brahms’ Symphony No. 4; Rossini‘s Overture to Il Barbiere di Siviglia; Tchaikovsky’s Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32; Respighi’s Fontane di Roma and Pini di Roma, and Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture.
“IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF TOSCANINI - SYMPHONY OF THE AIR” International Tour
In addition to the U.S. portion of the tour, the orchestra will honor Arturo Toscanini throughout the year with special performances all over the world. In Rome at the Auditorium Conciliazione, the orchestra will perform all nine of Beethoven’s Symphonies, which Toscanini is known for revitalizing. In Busseto, Italy (Verdi’s birthplace), Symphonica Toscanini will perform Verdi’s Requiem Mass, and on the island of San Giovanni on lake Maggiore, Italy (a favorite holiday location for Toscanini) the orchestra will perform Verdi’s Aida and Requiem Mass. The tour will also take the orchestra to South America, and will conclude in Israel, where in 1936 Toscanini conducted the first concert of the orchestra that is now the Israel Philharmonic.
Return to News Page