National Youth Orchestra of the USA

Emotion and pictures in musical form: programme music is tailor-made for the members of a youth orchestra, who work together on an individual project with which they then go on tour. Every year, the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) brings together some 120 young musicians aged 16 to 19 for several weeks of rehearsal work. At »Elbphilharmonie Summer«, the NYO-USA under Sir Antonio Pappano plays two Late Romantic works where nature offers a stage for the composer’s feelings. Hector Berlioz’s song collection »Les nuits d’été« does not depict mild summer nights as the title suggests; its subject matter is the sad sides of love. The orchestra accompanies one of the most sought-after singers of our time, Joyce DiDonato. After the interval, Richard Strauss’s »Alpensinfonie« can be heard, which the composer was inspired to write by a walk through the Alpine foothills of Bavaria.