Special Talents for Special Olympics

Talent, commitment, determination, and the chance to make the most of one's abilities: these are the values that unite the world of music and that of sport, and that will be at the heart of Special Talents for Special Olympics, the concert organized by the Lions Clubs of South Tyrol in collaboration with the Haydn Foundation in support of Special Olympics Italia – Team Südtirol. The Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, conducted by young Moldovan conductor Stepan Armasar, will accompany two young winners of the National Arts Prize: Alessandro Sacchetti on cello and Matteo Spaggiari on double bass. The program features two major works from the repertoire of these two instruments: Joseph Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major and Giovanni Bottesini's Double Bass Concerto No. 2 in B minor. Composed between 1761 and 1765 but lost until 1961, Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 1 is among his liveliest, most joyful and inventive works. Its virtuosity, brilliant yet natural in its dialogue with the orchestra, forms a bridge to Bottesini's Double Bass Concerto No. 2 — Bottesini being a fundamental figure in the repertoire of the largest of the string instruments: the conductor and composer from Crema was so skilled with his instrument that he was nicknamed "the Paganini of the double bass." Opening and closing the program are Mozart's Symphony No. 22 in C major, composed when he was just 17, and Schubert's Overture in C major "in the Italian style." Special Olympics is an international movement that offers children and adults with intellectual disabilities year-round training programs and sports competitions. Through sport, it creates opportunities to develop and demonstrate skills and talents, and promotes participation and inclusion.