Leonidas begins residency with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks

Leonidas begins the month in Munich, where he launches his season-long artistic residency with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks from 1 November. For his first concerts as the orchestra’s Artist in Residence, Leonidas performs Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No.1 on 1 and 2 November. The concerts are conducted by Cristian Măcelaru.

The next concerts in the residency come in March, when Leonidas returns to Munich to perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. Over the course of his residency, Leonidas will also perform the Alban Berg Concerto, conduct Beethoven’s Symphony No.7 and also perform the composer’s Septet with soloists from the orchestra.

The concert on 2 November will be broadcast live on Bayerischen Rundfunks and also streamed on the BR-Klassik website.

Ahead of the concerts, Leonidas spoke to the orchestra about his violin:

“The violin was built in 1734, when Stradivari was already 90 years old. But he was still fit, and in his final years he experimented with the arching of the back and belly, giving the sound more space to unfold inside the instrument. The late Strads are the best. The combination of maturity, knowledge and skill in this violin is unique. Building something like this is an achievement not just for an individual, but for the whole of humanity.”

Click here to read the full interview.