The Winter Concert on January 5 went very well.
Despite the rain, the church was full, and the atmosphere in the hall became an active part of the music.

Schubert worked naturally: clear, bright, well focused.
Mendelssohn was more delicate. Maria Luce De Ruvo, performing this concerto with orchestra for the first time, played with great musicality. At times she rushed slightly, and in the last movement’s final section she skipped a bar. We managed to recover and finish together. These things happen, especially at 17, and they did not compromise the overall result. The second movement was deeply moving and warmly received by the audience. As an encore, she played Paganini’s Caprice No. 13, beautifully.

Prokofiev went very well: strong character, energy, and fine sonorities.
A few inaccuracies and a couple of untimely entries, without real consequences. Overall, a vivid and convincing performance. We repeated the final movement as an encore.

The day started uphill: the principal oboe with a fever, coming directly for the concert after skipping the final rehearsal; the third timpani arriving only on the concert day; a tuning key that had to be found at the last moment. The church heating was only partially working, but without causing real discomfort.

At the end of the evening, €893 were raised for the musical instruments maintenance fund of the Waldensian Church of Piazza Cavour.

The concert is now available in a full edited video version, with restored audio.

👉 Watch the concert

An intense, imperfect, genuine evening.
And for that very reason, a successful one.