Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Sold-Out Concerts in Europe

In last Thursday’s (6/13) Dallas Morning News, Scott Cantrell writes, “It’s hard to think of another city that can match the rich musical history of [Vienna]. By birth or adoption, its musical luminaries have included Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler and Arnold Schoenberg…. Night after night its concert halls also present the world’s most famous touring ensembles. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra thus rated a particularly meaningful endorsement with a capacity audience for its June 12 performance at the Vienna Konzerthaus. Sold-out concerts and enthusiastic audiences have been the norm on the DSO’s European tour this month, with dates in Spain, Germany, Austria and Belgium…. Leading the tour, DSO music director Fabio Luisi has his own Viennese history, including six years as principal conductor of the Tonkünstler Orchestra and eight years leading the Vienna Symphony. And violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, who’s touring with the orchestra, has a huge following in Europe.” In addition to works by Tchaikovsky and others, repertoire included What Keeps Me Awake by former DSO composer-in-residence Angélica Negrón and John Williams’ Violin Concerto No. 2. “Mutter, for whom the Williams was composed, gave another committed performance of almost superhuman precision, with skilled and sympathetic collaboration from Luisi and the orchestra.”