"Oceans apart - these words convey so much of the spirit and ambition behind the Edinburgh International Festival in 2010." So writes Jonathan Mills, its Director, in his introduction to the programme.
Late in 2008 Gramophone magazine listed its twenty best orchestras in the world and gave Royal Concertgebouw top spot. Cleveland came seventh and Russian National fifteenth. All three are coming to the Usher Hall in August. They will be joined by our own BBC Scottish Symphony, Royal Scottish National and Scottish Chamber orchestras.
But that’s not all. From really far away Vladimir Ashkenazy brings his Sydney Symphony Orchestra. There’s the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra as well as the Minnesota Orchestra from its home on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis.
Between them they play sixteen concerts with music by thirty one composers, conducted by nine equally famous conductors. The Usher Hall concerts start at 8 pm.
Greyfriars Kirk hosts Treasures and Traditions in which works largely discovered when Europeans started to travel in Central and Southern America a long time ago are played in seven concerts each starting at 5.45 pm.
The Tallis Scholars perform a concert of choral music by Spanish renaissance composers popular in the cathedrals of Latin America. There’s sacred music from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro by Ensemble Le Sans-Pareil and music from Mexico, Bolivia and Peru by Ex Cathedra.
At 11 am at The Queen’s Hall on nineteen mornings there are recitals from some of the world’s finest artists and ensembles performing music from contemporary American, South American and Australasian composers juxtaposed with well loved works from the European masters. There are piano and violin recitals, double bass and cello too. Soprano and baritone soloists and quartets and ensembles. A real feast.
For the final performance the Simón Bolívar String Quartet performs music from South America alongside works by Bach, Brahms and Shostakovich.