After two years of pandemic, the musicians of the Orchester symphonique de Montréal (OSM) will be standing this summer to find their international audience. For his first tour with the OSM leader, Rafael Payare will take them to South Korea, from July 5 to 8, before visiting five cities in Europe, from October 21 to 28.
OSM’s first international tour began in 1962, with an overseas concert in Vienna on May 5. Over the next six decades, the orchestra established itself as an international ambassador for Montreal, Quebec and Canada with more than 55 tours to its credit.
For its trip to South Korea, which was announced last month, OSM will be accompanied by American violinist Hilary Hahn and South Korean pianist Yekwon Sunwoo. The tour will start in Seoul and continue to Daegu and Tongyeong. The program includes Violin Concerto No. 1 and the Piano Concerto No. 3 of Prokofiev, the Symphony No. 5 by Mahler as well as the works of Ravel and Debussy.
In October, OSM will travel to Zagreb, Budapest, Vienna, Brussels and London. Pianists Vikingur Olafsson, who hails from Iceland, and Bruce Liu, a young prodigy in Montreal who won the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2021, will also be in attendance, as will Italian violinist Augustin Hadelich.
On the menu, works by Liszt, Ravel, Shostakovich, R. Murray Schafer, Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev. The Viennese choir Wiener Singakademie, founded in 1858, will also join OSM on October 24 at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, to perform Nanie at Schicksalslied of Brahms, followed by Symphony No. 5 by Mahler.
Source: Radio-Canada
