The Luxembourg Philharmonic, founded in 1933, is an orchestra of great tradition and prestige, with a firm and elegant sound. And so we appreciated this on this first night of the Musical Fortnight, they were applauded by the audience with two blunt works.

On the other hand, this attractive program was crossed by the vision of the Valencian director Gustavo Gimeno. This conductor, who has held this orchestra since 2016, is becoming popular internationally. In fact, he's also the head of the Toronto Orchestra. And as a curiosity, he is the brother of Rubén Gimeno, currently director of the Young Orchestra of the Basque Country. So everything was ready for success.

The program started with one of the most beautiful and special concerts for piano and orchestra of the international repertoire: Saint-Säensen 5. Concert for piano, fa mayor op. 103, known as "Egyptian." It is a work full of exotic references, but not especially Egyptians. You can find melodies and rhythms from Andalusia and other latitudes. It always moves in a fantasy and romanticism field with a good dose of virtuosity.

To play this difficult piece, we had as a soloist Canadian pianist Bruce Liu. Its interpretation was excellent, especially from a technical point of view. Every moment I found it perfect. But he didn't just teach his technique. Also from the piano he got a very round and elegant sound, and he fused perfectly with the orchestra, creating an impeccable sound set.

As for the Orchestra, it was in the background. This is positive, on the one hand, because it gave the soloist total splendor. But, on the other hand, I would like to say that the truth is that all he did was underline his actions. Liu offered us a beautiful tip. Op. Chopin 64 re of large bemol raft. He made it clear why in 2021 he won the international piano competition Frédéric Chopin. No mistakes and original.

The concert was completed with the interpretation of the fifth giant symphony by Gustav Mahler. Great and beautiful view from all angles.

With this work, we were able to enjoy the music of this group. The strings were beautiful, filthy, voluptuous sound. The metals and the woods were also well heard.

The only ‘pega’ would give it to the direction, because I didn’t think it was completely controlled. I think with this very solid orchestra, you could take a thousand nuances, for example, in the second movement, which was a little flat. However, 'Adagietto. The sehr langsam movement had the simple and enveloped nuance that Mahler requires.

We will have a second chance to taste this important orchestra.