The Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège (OPRL) has added its voice to pleas from the cultural sector, asking for the adoption of a timetable defining the recovery of the sector ahead of this Tuesday’s Consultative Committee Meeting.
OPRL’s general manager Daniel Weissman said that they’re able to ensure the health and safety of artists and audiences for a 2021-2022 season.
“We have not been listened to for months, and we understand that based on the evolution of the health situation, but we are now at a stage where the timetable put on the table must be effective,” said Weissman.
The manager said he was optimistic about both Tuesday’s meeting and the four-phase deconfinement plan that has been submitted to the authorities by the various federations representing the cultural sector.
“We think that it takes time, that we have to go slowly, but we would like to be spoken to once and for all as the responsible people that we are. We want a dialogue,” Weissman said.
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“We are now capable of modelling practices that do not endanger artists and the public.”
The OPRL's 2021-2022 season was described as “doubly exciting” by its musical director, Gergely Madaras.
“We have integrated some projects that we were not able to carry out this season, as well as some very original, very colourful proposals,” Madaras said.
This new season is called “Filiations,” in particular in reference to the “strong musical identity” of the Liège institution.
The season will be marked by the bicentenary of the birth of the Franco-Belgian composer César Franck, born in Liège on 10 December 1822.
Concerts, recordings and other events will take place from November 2021 to December 2022.
“The OPRL is the only orchestra to have recorded Franck's symphony three times. Various concerts will be filmed and broadcast around the world,” said Weissmann.
While the repertoire of the 19th and 20th centuries remains at the heart of the OPRL's programming, the 2021-2022 season will also feature Russian music.
The Brussels Times
