65,000 Dancing Nurembergers

Conducting his fourth consecutive Klassik Open Air in Nuremberg (Europe’s largest annual classical concert), Alexander Shelley this year taught the record 65,000 strong crowd the steps to his choreography for Leroy Anderson’s “Chicken Reel”. Following last year’s unofficial World Record for singing in canon, in which Shelley conducted 50,000 people singing “Frère Jacques” from a 30 foot tower, he this year set the audience a new challenge - the largest ever choreographed dance. The record attempt was the culmination of a programme based around dance in which the orchestra performed works by Shostakovich, Sibelius, Khachaturian, Marquez, Smetana, Gade and many others and were joined by the legendary Spanish guitarist Pepe Romero for Vivaldi’s Lute Concerto and Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. This week Shelley continues the open air season in a concert with the Gothenburg Symphony as part of the city’s Cultural Festival. For review of the Klassik Open Air (in German), please visit the press section.