The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has found a new conductor for its performances in Taipei on Friday and Saturday after Italian conductor Riccardo Muti, who has a hernia, pulled out of the orchestra’s Asia tour.
The orchestra is to be led by Finnish conductor Osmo Vanska, the concerts’ promoter, Management of New Arts, said.
The orchestra will present a mixed classical music program on Friday and hold an evening of Beethoven the following night at the National Concert Hall.
Among the pieces to be performed are Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 in C Major Jupiter, Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E flat major Eroica.
The violin solo in Mendelssohn’s piece will be played by Taiwan-born violinist Robert Chen (陳慕融), who has been the orchestra’s concertmaster since 1999, the promoter said.
In addition, Russian violinist Maxim Vengerov will feature in the orchestra’s performance of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major on Saturday, the promoter said.
Founded in 1891, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has made about 40 overseas tours since 1971.
Taipei will be the first leg of the orchestra’s Asian tour, which includes cities in China and South Korea. It will be the orchestra’s first performance in Taiwan.
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
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