Music in the Mountains Resident Conductor shares Salzburg Festival experiences

Editor’s note: Music in the Mountains‘ Resident Conductor and Choral Director Ryan Murray was selected as a winner of the prestigious 2014 Ansbacher Fellowship for Young Conductors with the Vienna Philharmonic through the American Austrian Foundation. Here’s a report:

“I wanted to take a moment to share some of my experiences from the Salzburg festival with you. I have been here for about 4 weeks now and it has been an amazing experience. Getting a chance to hear the Vienna Philharmonic on a daily basis is quite a luxury.

“The Philharmonic plays with a very unique and beautiful sound, and are masters of classical style. Some performances that have stood out were Der Rosenkavalier and Il Trovatore featuring Anna Netrebko and Placido Domingo. Having a chance to observe rehearsals with conductors like Riccardo Muti and Gustavo Dudamel has been extraordinary.

“I had the chance to meet both of them and had a great discussion with Riccardo Muti about the purpose of the conductor, and how to conduct the very tricky opening of Bruckner’s 6th Symphony.  It is interesting to see how each conductor has their own very unique style, but are mostly working towards the same ideals of excellent ensemble sound and musical phrasing.

“The rehearsal schedule has been very busy but I have had a little time to explore Salzburg and the surrounding areas.  I was able to take the cable car to the top of the Untersberg Mountain, and then hike up to the top at nearly 6000 feet!”

“I’m looking forward to being back in California soon, and am approaching my last week here.  It will be a very full week with Danielle Gatti conducting Bruckner, Lang Lang playing a Mozart Piano Concerto, and performances by both the Concertgebouw and the Berlin Philharmonic on the final day of the festival.”