Rick Steves’ Europe: A Symphonic Journey
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After a year of planning and production, Rick Steves’ Europe: A Symphonic Journey, co-produced by CET and based on Rick Steves’ performance with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra last September, premieres on April 3.
In this special, popular public television host and guidebook author Rick Steves and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, under the direction of conductor John Morris Russell, take audiences on a musical tour across Europe, performing music by 19th Century Romantic-era composers Edvard Grieg, Camille Saint-Saëns, Bedřich Smetana, Johann Strauss Jr., Giuseppe Verdi and others. Steves hosts the program and provides historical and cultural context.
CET has paired the stories and music with breathtaking imagery from popular episodes of Rick Steves travel programs. As the one-hour program unfolds, it becomes clear that these pieces are more than nationalistic pride — they are echoes of revolutions, movements, and aspirations for a better future. The program culminates with Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”, the official anthem of the Europe Union, symbolizing a continent united in its diversity.
