Munich Isarphilharmonie (c) Richard Ion

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.

 Richard Ion Erlangen 1

(c) Richard Ion

Josh Cirtina Erlangen Heinrich Lades Halle

(c) Josh Cirtina


Munich

The second stop was Munich's Isarphilharmonie, where Daniel Müller-Schott joined us for Elgar's Cello Concerto.

Munich Isarphilharmonie c Richard Ion

(c) Richard Ion

 Daniel Mueller Schott instagram

We also bumped into a friendly face while we were rehearsing!

Simon Rattle meets Vasily Petrenko Shana Douglas


Friedrichshafen

The South Germany city's Graf-Zeppelin-Haus hosted the Orchestra and Jan Lisiecki for music by Vaughan Williams, Grieg and Elgar.

Friedrichschafen c Richard Ion

(c) Richard Ion


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!

Elbphilharmonie c Richard Ion

(c) Richard Ion

Josh Cirtina trombone view

(c) Josh Cirtina

Rupert Whitehead c Richard Ion

(c) Richard Ion

Chantal Webster c Richard Ion

(c) Richard Ion

Hamburg video

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?

Peter Graham Tonhalle old planetarium

(c) Peter Graham

Tonhalle Richard Ion

(c) Richard Ion

 


Hannover

 Saturday 28 February saw us arrive in the spectacular Kuuppelsaal in Hanover's Congress Centre.

Kuuppelsaal Richard Ion

(c) Richard Ion

 Hanover Kuupelsaal exterior Richard Ion

(c) Richard Ion

 emer McDonough c Richard Ion

(c) Richard Ion


Frankfurt

After taking the Sunday off, the next destination was Frankfurt's stately Alte Oper.

 Sali Alter Oper

Sonia Sielaff c Richard Ion

(c) Richard Ion

Alte Oper interior

"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."

Read Frankfurter Runschau review (in German)


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.

Matt Knight Josh Cirtina running

Trombones Matt Knight and Josh Cirtina going for a quick pre-concert jog about in the city.

Cologne backstage

Abbie Fenna c Richard Ion

(c) Richard Ion

Fraser Gordon c Richard Ion

(c) Richard Ion

As is now a proud tradition, here are each of the sections that made up the Orchestra's exhilirating tour!

First violins

The first violins.

 Second violins

The second violins with the venue's gift of post-concert beers!

Violas

The viola section.

 Cellos

The cellos gracing the stairs leading to the Elbphilharmonie stage.

Double basses

The double basses.

Woodwind

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.

Antwerp 1 c Richard Ion

 Antwerp 2 c Richard Ion

(c) Richard Ion

Antwerp c Richard Ion

(c) Richard Ion

 Antwerp 3 c Richard Ion

Antwerp 4 c Richard Ion

(c) Richard Ion

Antwerp Instagram

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


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