The King has marked 120 years of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) by attending a special performance at the Guildhall in London on Tuesday.
Charles, who is patron of the LSO, watched an hour-long performance of classical music, which also celebrated the cultural relations between London and the Italian city of Genoa.
Led by the orchestra’s chief conductor Sir Antonio Pappano, the concert included performances of Gioachino Rossini’s The Barber of Seville overture, Niccolo Paganini’s First movement from Violin Concerto No 1, and Giacomo Puccini’s Crisantemi for String Orchestra.
Following the performance, the King met with several LSO officials and Italian dignitaries, including the orchestra’s managing director Dame Kathryn McDowell and deputy mayor of Genoa Pietro Piciocch.
He also met 23-year-old Simon Zhu, the 57th winner of the esteemed Premio Paganini international violin competition.
Named after the famed Italian virtuoso, the competition dates back to 1954 and has helped to launch the professional careers of classical artists including Gyorgy Pauk, Salvatore Accardo and Gidon Kremer.
Zhu performed the first movement from Paganini’s first violin concerto on an 18th-century violin dubbed Il Cannone (The Cannon), which was named after its explosive sound and inspired many of Paganini’s compositions.
