There was lots of kissing going on in the great square in Brussels, Belgium, known as the Grand Places. Passionate young couples, just lost in the moment, kissing at length on a rainy Wednesday afternoon. More than you’d see in Market Square, I’m sure. I walked with Paul Silver and his daughter Sarah, the amazing […]

Basel’s Stadtcasino is one of the few spots on the tour where something other than the Euro is called for, but it isn’t a place where you can wager Swiss Francs. Here are three concert halls, including one named for Swiss composer Hans Huber, who wrote eight symphonies yet is almost completely unknown in the […]

It was two wunderschönes days in Bregenz and Lindau – and for Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Music Director Manfred Honeck, a return to the western Austrian region of Vorarlberg where he grew up. It is a magical part of the world. I had been told to expect a rural part of the country, but while it’s […]

It’s daunting to think of how to describe the success of the Pittsburgh Symphony’s three-day residency at the Musikverein in Vienna. All three programs were wildly successful. Remember Rainer Honeck, Manfred’s brother? He is the lead concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and played the VPO’s 2016 Sommernachtskonzert, which you can see on WQED-TV 13 […]

Two more wildly successful days have flown by in Deutschland for the Pittsburgh Symphony. The tour party is still talking about the fantastic evening in Berlin with the webcast. Everyone I met could not have been nicer or more helpful in pulling together the backstage camera position. I had a wonderful makeup artist Jeanne Groellmann. […]

Watch this space. We’re on our way to Terezin or Theresienstadt in just a few minutes. Last night in Dresden at the Albertinum was swarm but beautiful. Much more to come.

Thunderous applause greeted the Pittsburgh Symphony after their concert at Die Glocke in Bremen, Germany. I sat next to a fan who stomped his feet along with everyone else in the 1,400 seat hall. The wood floor surface amplified the stomping along with the cheers. Pianist Daniil Trifonov charmed with his Rachmaninoff Second Concerto, benefiting […]

And they’re off – with the cheers for Last night’s concert in Hanover now history. The Kuppelsaal, named for its round cupola shape – like a mini Royal Albert Hall, although not so mini with 3,700 seats. It’s been remodeled since the Pittsburgh Symphony’s last visit. Formerly brown and beige, it’s now white and blue. […]

I’m headed over to Manfred Honeck’s hotel for a short interview marking the start of the tour. It’s a mild sunny Friday with sun. A business conference is taking place in the hotel. I am in the “overflow” hotel with Maestro Andres Franco and the PSO staff. The conference is all businesses who sell to the […]

Hanover is the old stomping ground of King George I, the King of Great Britain and America until the American Revolution changed everything. Did you know that King George was a Hanoverian? Famous Hanover connections include Waterloo (there’s a Waterloo Platz in Hanover) and Wellington, Continental Tires, and Deutsche Grammophon records. Dating back to the […]