![\"Philharmonie](\"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/ontluPhilLuxembourg.jpg\")
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By ANDREW POWELL MUNICH \u2014 L\u00ebtzebuerg Stad, a.k.a. Luxembourg-Ville, population 100,000, holds a spiffier position these days in the musical firmament. Its orchestra has graduated from the legendary but somewhat seedy aegis of Radio Luxembourg \u2014 once a commercial thorn<\/a> in the national broadcasting sides of France and Britain \u2014 and now operates as the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg<\/a> in an arresting white 9-year-old hall<\/a> on a rock, a mile from the Grand Ducal Palace. Credit local economic prosperity, with new bases for Amazon, Apple, Cisco, eBay, Microsoft and more, not forgetting the Cour de justice de l\u2019Union europ\u00e9enne<\/em> (the E.U.\u2019s Supreme Court), whose duties<\/a> and lawyer count expand with each passing budget.<\/p>\n The metamorphosis has blessed the ensemble with a glowing and intense string sound, evident all through a M\u00fcnchenMusik<\/a> tour stop here Nov. 19 in the (awful) Gasteig. Guest conductor Joshua Weilerstein<\/a> let the strings speak eloquently for themselves in Ravel\u2019s Ma m\u00e8re l\u2019Oye<\/em> (1911); woodwind contributions varied in quality. Nudging the pace here and there and supporting legato lines, Weilerstein brought coherence to the suite, and charm, notably in Petit Poucet<\/em>, the movement about the boy whose breadcrumbs vanish. On the concert\u2019s first half, the Luxembourgers demonstrated lively partnering skills for Beethoven\u2019s Violin Concerto (1806) and soloist Hilary Hahn<\/a>, who established her authority from the moment she entered. Fresh, alert, technically brilliant, she chose ideal tempos and mustered considerable drama, her tone pleasingly full, her fingering secure. As rousing conclusion came Gershwin\u2019s An American in Paris<\/em> (1928). Here however, with the extra brass and possibly varying ideas about how to swing, coordination three or four times faltered, and conspicuously.<\/p>\n Photo \u00a9 Minist\u00e8re de l’\u00c9conomie du Luxembourg<\/p>\n Related posts:
Published: December 31, 2014<\/span><\/p>\n
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