04|SCO news
SCO NEWS A wonderful weekend in Würzburg –––––– by Stewart Roy, SCO Patron –––––– On Friday 3 June, 38 intrepid supporters of the SCO (just how intrepid will become clearer later) gathered at Edinburgh Airport to fly to Germany to hear the Orchestra perform in the Mozartfest in Würzburg. After arriving in Stuttgart we travelled by coach to Würzburg via Rothenburg, where our trip down the Romantic Road began. After a stop for lunch in Rothenburg (the location for the outdoor shots in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), and a guided walk round the picturesque town centre, we continued on our way to Würzburg. On the Saturday morning, a number of us enjoyed a guided walking tour of the old town centre, finishing with a visit to the Residenz, where the concert was to take place that evening. The Residenz was built between 1720 and 1744, and is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. It is famous for a splendid Baroque staircase, and its centrepiece is the Kaisersaal, where the concert was held.
Summer Palace at Veitshöchheim
There were two festivals in town that weekend, the Mozartfest in which the SCO was participating, the other being a festival of wine, celebrating the local Frankenwein in its distinctive bottle, the ‘Bocksbeutel’. Since our afternoon was free, several of us decided to taste what was on offer in the ‘Weinfest’, on the central Marktplatz.
The purpose of the trip, indeed the highpoint, was the concert given in the evening by the SCO. This included Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 20 and his Symphony No 39. The soloist was Kit Armstrong. His performance combined an impressive sensitivity with outstanding virtuoso technique, moving from an elegiac slow second movement to Mozart’s
