The Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – Roma, which was founded in 1908, became the first Italian orchestra dedicated exclusively to the symphonic repertoire. From the start, prominent composers sought to collaborate, including Gustav Mahler, Claude Debussy, Richard Strauss, Igor Stravinsky, and Ottorino Respighi, whose tone poems Fontane di Roma and Pini di Roma were premiered by the ensemble. Such star conductors as Arturo Toscanini, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Victor de Sabata, and Herbert von Karajan also led the orchestra. Leonard Bernstein served as Honorary President from 1983 to 1990, and Giuseppe Sinopoli, Daniele Gatti, and Myung-Whun Chung, among others, have been Principal Conductors. Sir Antonio Pappano has held the post of Music Director since 2005; Jakub Hrůša is Principal Guest Conductor and Yuri Temirkanov is Honorary Conductor. Since 2002, the orchestra has made its home in Rome’s Parco della Musica, which was designed by Renzo Piano. In addition to the concert season in Rome, the musicians tour with Pappano all over the world: they have performed at the Salzburg Festival, the BBC Proms, and the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg and have appeared at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, New York’s Carnegie Hall, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. The orchestra has received international awards for its CDs, including the Gramophone Award, the Brit Classical Award, the Diapason d’or, and the Echo Klassik; its most recent release, which appeared in 2021, is a Strauss album, with Pappano conducting Burleske and Heldenleben.
This concert marks the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia’s debut at the Lucerne Festival.
July 2022