Name: Trip to Italy
Start: 2026-06-12T19:30:00
Location: CityPalais

Avi Avital

Alessia Tondo

Duisburger Philharmoniker

Full focus on the music: Every year, several members of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra travel to Italy, more precisely to the picturesque little town of Montepulciano, not far from Siena. There, surrounded by the sun-drenched Tuscan landscape, is the Academy of Music and Performing Arts, where the musicians can intensively hone selected works that they will present to the Duisburg audience upon their return from the south. Fittingly, this time's program includes Brahms's cheerful String Quintet No. 2, which he composed during his summer vacation in Bad Ischl. This will be accompanied by Mendelssohn Bartholdy's String Quintet No. 1, composed in the spring of 1826, when he was 17 years old.

Montepulciano

Theater Duisburg

"The Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra shines with Mozart," wrote the WAZ newspaper after a "gripping evening of music" in which the Chinese-born New Zealander Tianyi Lu conducted his Requiem. And the young conductor also brought Mozart with her on her return to the orchestra's podium: this time the last of Mozart's five violin concertos. The Salzburg prodigy was not only one of the most gifted composers in music history, but also an outstanding pianist – and violinist. It's no wonder, then, that he put so much effort into the works for "his" instruments. With the Fifth Violin Concerto, he has created a particularly beautiful contribution: the melodies simply flow, the orchestral part is exceedingly rich, and the solo part is highly demanding.

Pioneer among classics

CityPalais

In the final chamber concert of the season, Artist in Residence Avi Avital once again demonstrates his full artistic range: The Israeli musician is not only a virtuoso of the classical mandolin, but is also at home in a wide variety of genres and styles. To pursue this passion for making music beyond narrow genre boundaries at the highest level, he founded the ensemble "Between Worlds" in 2014. Its members are all classically trained musicians, but are equally at home in non-classical repertoire. Together, they combine various musical worlds in their programs, exploring the specific musical culture of a particular geographical region. This time, the journey takes them to the south of Italy, more precisely to Apulia and the surrounding musical cultures. With a combination of classical compositions, folk music, and arrangements created especially for the program, they explore the region in all its historical and contemporary significance: from traditional folklore to the Neapolitan Baroque to the present day – linked by the mandolin as an iconic instrument of Italian folk music. Vocal support for the musical journey through Italy comes from Apulian singer Alessia Tondo, one of the leading representatives of traditional music in her homeland.