Over the past two weeks the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has toured in cities across Germany and Belgium with artists Jan Lisiecki, Daniel Müller-Schott and Lucas and Arthur Jussen under the baton of Music Director Vasily Petrenko.
Read on to view photos from the RPO's trip!
Erlangen
The RPO's first stop of the tour was Erlangen's Heinrich-Lades-Halle, where the Orchestra performed Grieg's Piano Concerto with soloist Jan Lisiecki, alongside Vaughan Williams' Overture to The Wasps and Prokofiev's Symphony No.5.
(c) Richard Ion
(c) Josh Cirtina
Munich
The second stop was Munich's Isarphilharmonie, where Daniel Müller-Schott joined us for Elgar's Cello Concerto.
(c) Richard Ion
We also bumped into a friendly face while we were rehearsing!
Friedrichshafen
The South Germany city's Graf-Zeppelin-Haus hosted the Orchestra and Jan Lisiecki for music by Vaughan Williams, Grieg and Elgar.
(c) Richard Ion
#concert 2 of 7 with @rpoonline - #Friedrichshafen #Germany pic.twitter.com/hbz4NSy9Ri
— Jan Lisiecki (@janlisiecki) January 25, 2023
Hamburg
In Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie, which opened in January 2017 and boasts a capacity of 2,100 seats, was surely a highlight of the trip!
(c) Richard Ion
(c) Josh Cirtina
(c) Richard Ion
(c) Richard Ion
Watch a clipping of Jan Lisiecki and the RPO playing Grieg's Piano Concerto from Hamburg
Dusseldorf
The next stop was Dusseldorf's Tonhalle, a building that used to be a planetarium - can you tell?
(c) Peter Graham
(c) Richard Ion
Hannover
Saturday 28 February saw us arrive in the spectacular Kuuppelsaal in Hanover's Congress Centre.
(c) Richard Ion
(c) Richard Ion
(c) Richard Ion
Concert 5 of 7 with @rpoonline - #hannover #germany pic.twitter.com/gVcwEpvVTm
— Jan Lisiecki (@janlisiecki) January 28, 2023
Frankfurt
After taking the Sunday off, the next destination was Frankfurt's stately Alte Oper.
(c) Richard Ion
"Petrenko repeatedly gave his orchestra the opportunity to show off uninhibitedly and freely, which enhanced Grieg's concerto to the maximum."
Read Online Merker review (in German)
"[Petrenko] showed himself to be a lively and idiosyncratic conductor."
Cologne
The final stop in our German odyssey was Cologne's Philharmonie, where we rounded off the week with Vaughan Williams' The Wasps Overture, Grieg's Piano Concerto and Prokofiev's music from Romeo and Juliet.
Trombones Matt Knight and Josh Cirtina going for a quick pre-concert jog about in the city.
(c) Richard Ion
(c) Richard Ion
It’s a pleasure to see my fav orchestra in ??I’ve heard the orchestra played Grieg piano concerto and I also heard Jan lived this piece few times, so technically I can imagine how wonderful you together will be. But the reality is way more wonderful than my imagination✨ pic.twitter.com/eaEbrD0wML
— Lin！ (@linkonghere) February 1, 2023
As is now a proud tradition, here are each of the sections that made up the Orchestra's exhilirating tour!
The first violins.
The second violins with the venue's gift of post-concert beers!
The viola section.
The cellos gracing the stairs leading to the Elbphilharmonie stage.
The double basses.
The woodwind.
Antwerp
After a couple of days of R&R back at home we boarded a Eurostar from Paddington on Saturday morning for one last hurrah, destination Antwerp. In the Flemish city's Koningin Elisabethzaal the Orchestra and Vasily Petrenko performed with the pianists Lucas and Arthur Jussen with Mozart's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra.
(c) Richard Ion
(c) Richard Ion
(c) Richard Ion
First violin Adriana Iacovache-Pana and viola Ugne Tiskute took over our Instagram for the day and interviewed their fellow players, the Jussen brothers and Vasily Petrenko about touring with the Orchestra - watch how it all unfolded.
Thank you to everyone who joined us on our tour that's kicked off a very exciting year for the Orchestra - find out more about what's on by following the links below.
Journeys of Discovery at Southbank Centre and Royal Albert Hall