ORT | Three Centuries in Concert

From the romantic enchantment of The Hebrides to the rigor of Weill’s exile to the expressive contemporaneity of Rosso Ferrari, under the direction of Niklas Benjamin Hoffmann. For the concert concluding the ORT season, three works written about a century apart are intertwined, offering a fascinating journey through different eras, styles and historical contexts. 

It starts with Felix Mendelssohn’s The Hebrides (1830), an overture inspired by the young composer’s trip to the Hebrides archipelago in Scotland, particularly the picturesque Fingal’s Cave, as an orchestral page brimming with natural atmospheres, romantic echoes and landscape impressions. What follows is Kurt Weill’s Symphony No. 2 (1933–34), composed immediately after his escape from Nazi Germany. Devoid of any explicit references, this intense work is dense with meaning, entrusted for the first time to Bruno Walter’s direction. 

The program closes with a new composition, Rosso Ferrari by Cristian Carrara, an author also known to ORT audiences for his past role as artistic coordinator. This recent work is characterized by clear and communicative writing, starring accordionist João Barradas, a versatile artist flitting between classical, jazz and shows. 

Back on the podium is young German conductor Niklas Benjamin Hoffmann, formerly an assistant with the London Symphony Orchestra and now rising on the international scene, also founding the Ensemble Momentum committed to the dialogue between music and the visual arts.

Saturday, May 17 at the Teatro Verdi in Florence.

Niklas Benjamin Hoffmann, conductor
João Barradas, accordion
Orchestra of Tuscany

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy – The Hebrides, Op. 26
Cristian Carrara – Rosso Ferrari

Kurt Weill – Symphony No. 2

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