Tour with Sir Antonio Pappano and Beatrice Rana (Winter 2023)
22 November - 3 December 2023
The COE & Pappano
The COE is looking forward to its now well-established end-of-year tour with Sir Antonio Pappano, one of the orchestra’s closest friends. This year they travel to Italy, Germany and Austria, joined by the Italian pianist Beatrice Rana in a program by Elgar, Schumann and Dvorak. Beatrice will perform Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto, which she recorded for Warner Classics with the COE and Yannick Nézet-Séguin last year at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. The CD, which also includes Clara Wieck-Schumann’s Piano Concerto No. 1, was released earlier this year to great international acclaim.
Sir Antonio Pappano is a regular artistic partner of the COE and we always look forward to working with a conductor whose enthusiasm and drive are so infectious and who takes the Orchestra on a wonderfully creative voyage every time they meet. All our projects together since 2016 have featured world-class soloists including oboist François Leleux and violinists Lisa Batiashvili, Janine Jansen and Veronika Eberle. For him, as per the short video below, one of the aspects that attracts him most to the COE is the mix between the older and younger generations and the ability of the Orchestra to build on its incredible heritage shaped among others by Claudio Abbado and Nikolaus Harnoncourt whilst also taking in more recent influences in its stride.
Sir Antonio Pappano on what makes the COE special
Beatrice Rana
This is our second project with Beatrice who made her COE debut last year in Baden-Baden with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, performing and recording Piano Concertos by Clara Wieck-Schumann and Robert Schumann which were subsequently released to great acclaim by Warner Classics. According to BBC Music Magazine: “It’s Clara’s concerto that stands out above other accounts in the catalogue, a performance that pours straight from the heart in a way that blazes over any doubts about the composer’s ability. Whether it’s thunderous octaves or bel canto elegance, Rana balances the piece’s extraversion and introversion. The solo ‘Romanze’ is pure eloquence. But what could be more thrilling than the storming race to the finish in the finale, whipped up brilliantly by soloist and orchestra, exiting on a final flourish that demands applause.”
For a full biography of Beatrice, please visit her page on Primo Artists: https://www.primoartists.com/beatrice-rana