For the Leuven University Symphony Orchestra, this academic year is a celebration year. They are not celebrating one but two jubilees. The orchestra has existed for no less than 60 years. In addition, they are celebrating their silver anniversary with conductor Edmond Saverniers.
Yesterday, on Thursday 10 November, the kickoff of their celebration year took place. With the programme From the New World the USO under the direction of Edmond Saverniers managed to charm the audience. Appropriately, this festive event took place in a hall named after the orchestra's founder: the Aula Pieter De Somer. It was an evening full of romantic music and cheering students.
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The orchestra members took their place on the stage amid loud and enthusiastic applause from the audience, family and fellow students. Many of them were not frequent listeners of classical music but the USO let them experience what the symphonic repertoire has in store. It was therefore a pleasant surprise that the USO opened the evening with a lesser-known work. They started off with music by Édouard Lalo (1823—1892), the overture from the opera Le Roi d'Ys (1888). On a bed of romantic strings, the delicate melody of Margaret, the king's daughter, sounds, played by the clarinet. This is followed by a turbulent and tumultuous passage reflecting the drama that will unfold in the opera, ultimately culminating in a dynamic climax.
For the second work of the evening, the USO was accompanied by Tom De Beuckelaer. This young pianist who was crowned "Young Steinway Artist" last year managed to charm the audience with far more than just his interpretation of Sergei Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto (1873—1943). His virtuosic piano playing was rewarded after the performance with loud cheers and applause from the audience.
After a brief intermission, the members of the USO returned to the stage for the final work of the programme. They closed the evening with the 9th Symphony "From the New World", Op. 95 (1893) by Czech composer Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904). Between the first and second movements, conductor Edmond Saverniers reminded everyone once more that a mobile phone has an airplane mode after a phone alarm went off in the hall. But this mishap could not put the USO off their stride. Josefien Branson managed to render the english horn solo intimately. They also brought the scherzo with much enthusiasm while the two bassoonists happily swayed along. After the final movement which starts in minor and ends in major, applause burst forth again in the hall. This was followed — as tradition apparently dictates — by two encores that the audience certainly appreciated.
WHAT: From the New World — concert tours 2022
WHO: University Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edmond Saverniers
WHERE: Aula Pieter De Somer, Leuven
WHEN: 10 November 2022
the USO plays this programme again on 11 November 2022
© Malou Van den Heuvel © Malou Van den Heuvel © Malou Van den Heuvel © Malou Van den Heuvel © Malou Van den Heuvel © Malou Van den Heuvel
