In Saturday’s (7/9) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jane Vranish reports on several concerts by the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony during the orchestra’s recent tour of Italy: “The Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra left the relative quiet of the Italian countryside in Salice-Terme for the watery splendor of Venice. It was a quick dip into the City of Canals—a 40-minute boat ride to and from the Venetian sights and a zig-zag walking tour of the maze of back streets, ending in the famed St. Mark’s Square. But there was little time to waste and another four-hour bus ride awaited them to the middle of Tuscany and the spa town of Montecatini Terme, which would serve as home base for a trio of concerts. The first was in San Gimignano, a 2,000-year old medieval town with stone towers that, from a distance, looked like the Manhattan skyline. … The concert took place in the town’s main square, with most of the winds and brass housed in the large arched entryway to the San Gimignano theater and the strings spread out into the square.” Terme Tuccio Spa, the venue for the following evening’s concert “provided the best environment yet, coming closest to a concert hall. The strings blended from top to bottom, with a more robust sound from the cellos and basses, and the French horns took on a clarion call.”
Posted July 11, 2011
