Two Visions of the World

It was customary for the young Riccardo Chailly to spend many hours at the hall of the RAI (Italy’s national broadcaster) in Rome while his father, the composer Luciano Chailly, went to work as Director of musical programmes for the Italian television. At the tender age of eleven, he attended a rehearsal of Mahler’s First Symphony with the young Zubin Mehta on the podium: at that moment Riccardo decided he would be an orchestra conductor. In the case of Gautier Capuçon, his musical vocation took flight at the age of only four or five when the cello came into his life forever.

Conductor and soloist meet for the second concerto of Shostakovich, a complex and fascinating reflection by a 60-year-old composer who had experienced more of the world than would have been his choice. Rising to the challenge, the Filarmonica della Scala takes on a repertoire of extremely demanding requirements, an extraordinary level that is not unusual considering Chailly is the Principal Conductor of the orchestra. On the programme for the second half of the concert: The New World Symphony, one of those works that music lovers never turn down and one which allows the musicians to reach their full potential. You won’t want to miss it.

Dmitri Shostakovich, Cello Concerto No. 2 in G major, op. 126
Antonín Dvořák, Symphony No. 9 in E minor op. 95 “From the New World”