09/22/2011 01:06 pm

Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig embarks on its 2011 fall tours with DHL at its side

The Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig launched its first fall tour of the year last week with a concert in Bonn, Germany.

Gewandhaus, one of the world's oldest symphony orchestras, played Beethoven's Coriolanus Overture, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's “Reformation Symphony,” and – featuring world-famous Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires – Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto.

The tour – dubbed the “Festival Tour” – took the Orchestra from Germany to Switzerland, with stops in Geneva and then in Lucerne for the Lucerne Festival. The tour ended in Austria, with concerts in St. Florian and Linz.

In October the Gewandhaus Orchestra travels to Europe's major cultural centers: Vienna, Paris, and London. Music connoisseurs are in for a treat. The program not only includes all of Beethoven's symphonies, but also five world premieres – specially commissioned works reflecting a number of Beethoven’s symphonies.

As the orchestra’s Official Logistics Partner, DHL is as passionate about handling the delicate musical instruments as the musicians are about music. “My timpani are sort of like my babies”, explains principal timpanist Tom Greenleaves. “If one of my main drums got damaged during transport then I’d have to play a reserve instrument, which would have a different sound that may not fit the pieces we are playing. That would be extremely disappointing.” The DHL team conducted this tour with ease, with generally plenty of time to master the distance between concerts. The logistical opus will be a bit more complex on the second fall tour starting in October. One leg requires crossing the some 1,200 kilometers between Vienna and Paris overnight.

DHL's Gregor Klammer and his crew are used to tight schedules on the Gewandhaus tours: “It just makes it that much more important to think of everything in planning the tour. Do we need to factor in holiday traffic in any given country? Do we need to apply for special permits to allow our truck to drive on Sundays? Taking these things into consideration beforehand helps make the tour run smoothly,” says Klammer, who's been organizing the logistics ever since the DHL began its partnership with Gewandhaus Orchestra in 2005.

 

Don’t miss the upcoming tour:

Oct. 16th through Oct 19th and 21st: Vienna

Oct. 22nd and 23rd: Paris

Oct. 25th and 26th: London

Oct. 29th through Oct. 31st: Paris

Nov. 1st through Nov. 3rd: London

 

Visit http://www.gewandhaus.de/ for all the latest news and tour information.

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