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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Kirill Petrenko / Das Bayerische Staatsorchestra

October 3, 2019
Lothringerstraße 20, 1030 Wien, Austria

On pilgrimage to Vienna, concert-minded music lovers from abroad descend like locusts on the neoclassical Musikverein, home to the unsurpassed Vienna Philharmonic. Rarely do they have an evening to spare for the nearby, slightly less central Wiener Konzerthaus, an Art Nouveau complex encompassing four superb concert halls ranging in capacity from 1,840 to 336 seats. Yet the programming and talent on offer, more often than not, are choice. Take this appearance by Kirill Petrenko with the Bavarian State Orchestra, an ensemble he usually leads in the Bavarian State Opera. With all six tone poems of Smetana’s resplendent Má Vlast (My Homeland)—and not just the popular favorite “The Moldau”—I rest my case. —M.G.