On March 13, 2024, Sala Verdi in Milan hosted a concert featuring Ingolf Wunder, accompanied by Orchestra Maderna. The event was part of the Società dei Concerti Milano’s concert series and presented a diverse program that included works by Mozart, Beethoven, and Wunder himself.
The evening began with Mozart’s Concerto in C Major K 467, a staple of the classical repertoire, performed with Wunder as both soloist and conductor. The program continued with Wunder’s original composition, A Dream of a Better Tomorrow, conducted by the composer.
Following an intermission, the concert concluded with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92. Wunder conducted the piece, leading the orchestra through its dynamic and rhythmically driven movements.
The performance was part of a broader initiative by Società dei Concerti Milano to bring both classical masterpieces and contemporary works to its audience.
Review by Cesare Guzzardella, 14th of March 2024 English translation:
Pianist Ingolf Wunder conducting Orchestra Maderna for the Concert Society Milano
Pianist Ingolf Wunder, also serving as conductor and composer, led Orchestra Maderna in a special program that included first Mozart, then Wunder and finally Beethoven. Hosted in the Verdi Hall by the Società dei Concerti, Wunder conducting and playing piano, began with the great Salzburg composer’s Concerto in C major K 467 for piano and orchestra, a work famous especially for its central Andante, a movement of exemplary formal balance and extraordinary beauty in the simple, intense piano notes. The compelling overall interpretation found precisely in the delightful central movement the most touching juncture. Next, the composition by Wunder himself, called A dream of a better tomorrow – with the composer in the role of conductor only-occupied about ten minutes of the concert. The tonal piece, has a particularly interesting introduction in the timbres of the lower registers of the strings. More rhythmic and traditional melodic elements take over soon after, in a well- constructed instrumental ensemble with rapid changes of centers of reference and colorful settings close to film music. A good work that was well performed by the talented orchestral ensemble from Forli, founded in 1996 and active in classics and contemporaries. Generous applause. After the brief intermission, the excellent performance of L.v.Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major Op. 92 revealed the qualities of the orchestral ensemble and a fine conducting by Wunder centered on an interpretive choice with expeditious gaits, as in the incisive Allegro con brio finale, with the last bars repeated in the encore as well. Generous applause.
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