On July 20, Kent Nagano and the OSM opened the 98th edition of the Salzburg Festival to a full house of 1400 spectators. It was the orchestra’s fifth visit to Austria, but nevertheless their first appearance at this grand international festival — making the OSM the first Canadian orchestra in history to appear at the Salzburg Festival.

This inaugural concert was part of the Festival’s Ouverture spirituelle series, dedicated to sacred music, and took place at the Felsenreitschule, a mythical venue carved from the native rock, which lent itself marvelously to such a dramatic work.

Two days earlier, the OSM performed the piece before an audience of 1700, including the composer himself, at Krakow’s ICE Congress Centre.