ORT: Inauguration Concert

On Wednesday, October 22 at 9:00 pm, the opening of the Orchestra della Toscana’s 45ᵗʰ season will be staged at Florence’s Teatro Verdi, led by Diego Ceretta, in his 3ʳᵈ year as principal conductor. The evening offers a well-rounded program spanning 3 different eras and 3 different ways of telling the story of orchestral music.

The concert begins with Luigi Cherubini’s Concert Overture in G major, composed in 1815 for the Philharmonic Society of London. Lucid and vibrant, the overture combines classical precision and romantic outbursts, moving with dramatic pace and orchestral meticulousness.

At the center of the program is Rendering, a 1989 work by Luciano Berio that was created by reassembling fragments of an unfinished symphony by Franz Schubert. Berio does not seek to complete the symphony but highlights the gaps by intervening with his own materials, light and transparent, like lime on an ancient fresco. 

The evening concludes with Symphony No. 3, Op. 97—Robert Schumann’s “Renana”, a musical journey between momentum and ceremony, with the 4ᵗʰ movement inspired by the Cologne Cathedral. The symphony alternates moments of celebration and lightness with more reflective sections, showcasing Schumann’s ability to blend emotion and structure. The ORT’s performance, led by Ceretta, brings out the variety of orchestral colors and a balance of themes, closing the evening with intensity and stringency. 

But most of all, it invites you to reflect on the role of the Orchestra della Toscana. After 45 years, it does not just perform scores, but continues to question music, to propose courageous artistic pathways and to consolidate its cultural identity in an ever-changing musical landscape.