The opening concert at this year's Beethoven Festival in Bonn will be given by the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra under the leadership of its first guest conductor Manfred Honeck. The concert will take place on Saturday 20 September and is sponsored by Hydro.
One of the reasons for the Oslo Philharmonic being given the honour of opening this renowned festival is the former links between the festival and the German aluminium company VAW, which was taken over by Hydro Aluminium last year. The administrative centre of the former VAW was in the German capital Bonn.
The support for the concert also reflects the fact that Hydro Aluminium is now one of the largest industrial companies in this part of Germany. A number of influential guests from the political and business arenas will be invited to the concert.
Dieter J. Braun, who leads both the Automotive sector in Hydro Aluminium and Norsk Hydro Deutschland, comments on the company's decision to sponsor the concert in Bonn: "One important reason was that we wanted to present this marvellous orchestra to the concert-going public in our region on such an important occasion as the Beethoven Festival."
In the federal state of North Rhine Westphalia alone, Hydro Aluminium employs more than 5000 people, and activities all over the world are run from Hydro's offices in Cologne. Hydro Oil and Energy and Hydro Agri also have important operations in the state.
The opening concert of the festival will start with Beethoven's Coriolan Overture, followed by Fartein Valen's "Sonetto di Michelangelo" and Alban Berg's violin concerto with Christian Tetzlaff as soloist. The finale will be Beethoven's splendid Eroica Symphony.
Hydro has been the sole sponsor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra for 13 years.
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra on the net:
| www.oslophil.com | |
 |
|