Before the start of the concert, the Director said: “It is nice to be together again, I think the audience expects live music and not something from the TV.”
The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO) on Thursday, February 3, presented two concerts to a full house at the Katara Opera House, as their first offering for 2022 themed “Serenades for Strings”, with music by Antonín Dvorák and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a report in The Peninsula says .
QPO Director Kurt Meister said a previous concert in January had to be shelved due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before the start of the concert, the Director said: “It is nice to be together again, I think the audience expects live music and not something from the TV.”
He added that the QPO would present two more concerts on February 21 and 27 featuring some of the most famous pieces of classical music.
On the government’s move to relax COVID-19 restrictions he said: “I would be happy if we can go back to normal times of the past and be able to have a full orchestra on stage. The audience, too, would love the big sound of a full orchestra. As of now, only 45 musicians are allowed to be on stage”.
Dvorák’s “Serenade for Strings in E Major”, was performed by 26 musicians. Among one of his most popular works, the piece was composed in just two weeks in May of 1875.
Meanwhile, Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C Major was inspired by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and was completed in 1880.
Concertmaster and Conductor Joo Young Oh said that being back on stage again was great. “It is a great feeling to be on stage again with my colleagues and as many of us celebrate the Lunar New Year, timing cannot be more perfect. We are all very gratiified to hear that these concerts are sold out and we wish to continuously receive support from our audiences,” he said.
With regard to relaxation of Covid restrictions he said: “We are expecting to gradually resume playing as a full-fledged orchestra soon with guest conductors leading us in the coming days. I cannot say how soon we’ll be back to the normal situation of the past, but we’re hoping for the best.
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