The formerly royal Residenz in the Bavarian university town of Würzburg is one of the most magnificent buildings I have ever seen. Today, it is on UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage list and has undergone extensive reconstruction since the damage inflicted on it during the wars (if you are interested in building restoration, particularly of the Residenz's frescos by Tiepolo, there is an extensive English-version website about it all here). The Kaisersaal's restoration has just been finished. Its full baroque glory has to be seen to be believed, with walls covered in Tiepolo's frescos, and glittering chandeliers hanging from the ceilings. Isabelle Moretti was invited to give the opening concert to celebrate the completion of the restoration work. This was also the opening concert for the Würzburg Mozart Festival (Germany's oldest Mozart festival, this year taking "Mozart in Paris" as its theme), where she performed Mozart's flute and harp concerto with Phillipe Boucly and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner.
We all spend a lot of time talking about how classical music should be made accessible, performed where you don't have to dress up or sit in silence without having anything to drink. That is fine. Music can play many parts in people's lives: in the background, at the foreground, at the bar. But there is something profoundly civilised and, to my mind, life-enhancing about going to a really beautiful place and concentrating your mind on fine music played by those who play it best in the world.
One of the greatest things about my work is that I get to go to lots of concerts given by Isabelle Moretti. She now has a youtube channel, so you can see what I mean for yourselves.
