Philadelphia Orchestra Visits European Festivals
"The Philadelphia Orchestra is unquestionably one of the world's greats..."
—Financial Times (London, September 6, 2006)
 Rave reviews such as this one followed the Philadelphia Orchestra throughout Europe this past summer, where the orchestra under the direction of Music Director Christoph Eschenbach performed at some of the most prestigious music festivals in the world. The tour opened in Frankfurt at the Alte Oper, followed by three performances at the Lucerne Festival in the glorious Kultur und Kongresszentrum which looks out on Lake Lucerne. Returning to Germany, the orchestra played for sold-out houses in Hamburg, Essen, Bonn, and Berlin.
In London, two performances for the BBC Proms were planned at the venerable Royal Albert Hall, but a small backstage kitchen fire caused the hall to cancel one of the concerts, the first time a full Proms concert had been called off since the Blitz. Fortunately, the smoke cleared in time for the Orchestra to perform their final tour concert, which was also broadcast on BBC 4.
Despite the demands of a sometimes grueling tour schedule, the Philadelphia musicians are always consummate professionals both onstage and off. Concertmaster David Kim best described the attitude of the orchestra in one of his tour blogs, saying,
"What a privilege to represent our fair city in concert halls around the globe!" Classical Movements in turn says, "What a privilege to arrange tours for this world class orchestra!"
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