ORT: Clerici-Leong Concert

Thursday, February 5, at theTeatro Verdi in Florence, Friday, February 6, at the Galleria dei Giganti in Peccioli, Pisa, and Saturday, February 7, at the Teatro Garibaldi in Figline Valdarno, Florence, the Orchestra della Toscana (ORT) offers a program that contrasts two 19ᵗʰ century masterpieces, guided by the baton of Umberto Clerici and with the return of violinist Kerson Leong as soloist.

The evening opens with the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Op. 61 by Ludwig van Beethoven, composed in 1806 and one of the absolute pinnacles of violin repertoire. 
Solemn and lyrical, it builds a meticulous balance between form and expression, alternating between architectural tension and moments of suspended poetry. The interpretation by Kerson Leong—internationally acclaimed for technical precision and expressive depth—exalts the emotional richness of the score with elegance and intensity.

On the podium is Umberto Clerici, formerly Principal Cello in Sydney and now Chief Conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, here leading the Orchestra with clarity and dynamism, combining structural solidity and interpretive momentum in a constant dialog with the musicians.

The evening concludes with Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 3 in D major, D 200, written by the composer when he was just 18 years old. A bright and vital page, shot through with spurts of Haydnian ascendancy and melodies already fully recognizable as Schubertian, to conclude the concert in an atmosphere of freshness, lightness and musical joy.