ESSEN, Germany — For the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, another day in Europe means yet another rehearsal.
On a bright, breezy afternoon in Hamburg last week, T-shirt clad musicians trickled into the famous Elbphilharmonie concert hall, the tallest building in the German city of about 600,000, nestled along the Elbe River. On the ninth day of a sweeping tour spanning nine cities in three European countries, the orchestra's hard work had already drawn acclaim for the musicians' "velvet delicacy and sledge-hammer violence," as one critic in Hamburg wrote.
Even before the first player took a seat to practice yet again, Lisa Gedris was hurrying about onstage — placing each musician's sheet music on the right stand.
