Klaus Lohman, Director UK & Ireland at the German National Tourist Office, hosted travel agents and media at last night’s concert at the National Concert Hall, with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra – the oldest civic orchestra in the world – performing Cello Concerto No 2 by Shostakovich, with Lynn Harrell on cello, and Symphony No 2 by Rachmaninov.
Leipzig’s Gewandhaus Orchestra is one of the world’s most famous orchestras. Its many premieres at the Gewandhaus concert hall made musical history, including some of the most famous works of the greatest European composers such as Beethoven, Brahms and Bruckner.
The orchestra performs its ‘Grand Concerts’ at the Gewandhaus, it is Leipzig’s opera orchestra and it accompanies the Bach cantata performances at St Thomas Church. This means that the Gewandhaus Orchestra plays some 200 concerts per season at its three Leipzig venues and on its various international tours. Its current and 19th musical director is the Italian conductor Riccardo Chailly.
