Daniel Barenboim To Lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Tour
of the United Kingdom and Ireland in September 1996
Music Director Daniel Barenboim will lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
on a 12-day tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland, beginning September
4, with stops in Birmingham, Dublin, London, and Manchester. The CSO will
perform works of Verdi, Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Schoenberg, Bruckner, and Beethoven.
Through the generous sponsorship of Illinois Tool Works Inc. and G.D. Searle
& Co., the U.K./Ireland Tour marks the sixth international tour under
the leadership of Mr. Barenboim since he became music director in 1991.
The most recent tour was last April when Mr. Barenboim and the Orchestra
played three sold-out concerts in Berlin as part of the inaugural Berlin
Easter Festival. The CSO is returning to London for its eighth visit since
it first performed there under the baton of Sir Georg Solti in 1971. Maestro
Solti, now the CSO's Music Director Laureate, will join the Orchestra to
conduct the second of two concerts at Royal Albert Hall. The U.K.Ireland
Tour will mark CSO debuts in the remaining three cities.
Mr. Barenboim's Birmingham concert will feature works by Verdi, Elgar, and
Tchaikovsky on Sunday, September 8, at Birmingham Symphony Hall. As sister
cities since 1983, Birmingham and
Chicago participate in many international partnerships and cultural activities.
The Birmingham concert is sponsored by Illinois Tool Works Inc.
The National Concert Hall of Dublin, Ireland will be celebrating its 15th
anniversary season with concerts from July to December. Coinciding with
the actual anniversary date, September 9, Mr. Barenboim will conduct the
CSO in a concert of Schoenberg's Five Pieces for Orchestra and Bruckner's
Eighth Symphony.
Mr. Barenboim has selected the Schoenberg/Bruckner program for the performance
on Thursday, September 12, at London's Royal Albert Hall. On September 13,
Maestro Solti will be on the podium for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Both
of these concerts will be broadcast Live" on BBC Radio 3. The September
13 performance is sponsored by G.D. Searle & Co.
The Orchestra's appearances at Royal Albert Hall are part of the 102nd season
of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, which the Financial
limes of London recently described as Arguably the biggest and best of the
world's music festivals." The festival begins July 19 and runs through
September 14. Other major orchestras to appear at the BBC Proms this season
include the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Russian National Orchestra.
The tour concludes in Manchester, England on Saturday, September 14, when
the Orchestra will participate in The Bridgewater Hall's inaugural season
in a concert marking the opening of its International Orchestra Series.
The new hall will be operated by Hallogen, a joint venture between the Halle
Concerts Society and Ogden Entertainment Services. Three orchestras in residence
at this new hall will be the Halle Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic, and
the Manchester Camerata. The Bridgewater Hall's seating capacity will be
2,400, and it will open with its own mechanical action pipe organ. During
the opening festivities, Mr. Barenboim will participate in a ceremony to
honor Sir John Barbirolli, the Halle Orchestra's music director from 1943
to 1968, with whom the CSO music director had a close artistic relationship.
A special Patrons' Tour led by Trustee co-chairs Joanne Crown and Naomi
Borwell will accompany the Orchestra to Dublin, London, and Manchester.
In addition to attending the concerts, the patrons will participate in a
variety of special tours and activities, including a black-tie dinner at
Leixlip Castle hosted by The Honourable Desmond and Mrs. Guinness, a private
tour of the Steam Museum, a visit to the National Gallery and the Temple
Bar area, and a viewing of the Beit collection in Dublin, a private visit
to Sutton Place by invitation of Mr. Frederick R. Koch, and a visit to the
State Apartments of Buckingham Palace in London. The Patrons' Tour members
will participate in the opening celebration events for The Bridgewater Hall
featuring a black-tie reception before the concert and a gala dinner party
following the concert. The patrons will return to Chicago on September 16.
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