The King celebrated 120 years of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) by attending a special concert at the Guildhall in London on Tuesday.
As the patron of the LSO, Charles enjoyed an hour-long performance of classical music that highlighted the cultural ties between London and the Italian city of Genoa.
Under the baton of the orchestra’s chief conductor, Sir Antonio Pappano, the concert featured pieces including Gioachino Rossini’s overture to The Barber of Seville, Niccolo Paganini’s first movement from Violin Concerto No. 1, and Giacomo Puccini’s Crisantemi for String Orchestra.
After the performance, the King engaged with several LSO officials and Italian dignitaries, including the orchestra’s managing director, Dame Kathryn McDowell, and Genoa’s deputy mayor, Pietro Piciocch.
He also met Simon Zhu, a 23-year-old violinist who recently won the prestigious Premio Paganini international violin competition. This competition, named after the legendary Italian virtuoso, has been held since 1954 and has helped launch the careers of many classical artists, including Gyorgy Pauk, Salvatore Accardo, and Gidon Kremer.
Zhu performed the first movement of Paganini’s first violin concerto on an 18th-century violin known as Il Cannone (The Cannon), named for its powerful sound that inspired many of Paganini’s compositions.
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