Our 219th Season

Music tells stories. Drawing on classical music’s rich cabinet of curiosities, we have compiled a fascinating programme for you: ranging from Antonio Vivaldi, born in Venice in 1687, to the Korean composer Unsuk Chin, born in Seoul in 1961. Our 219th season features masterpieces from three centuries. Our musical journey begins under the direction of chief conductor Michael Sanderling, opening our fourth season with Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Strauss’s symphonic poem ‘Also sprach Zarathustra’. We place Mozart’s iconic Requiem alongside the world premiere of Fazıl Say’s ‘Mozart ve Mevlana’, which we have commissioned. We celebrate Viennese Classical music with Schubert’s ‘Great Symphony’ in C major and three Beethoven piano concertos.

An emphasis on the Romantic period can be seen throughout the season, for example in Tchaikovsky’s programmatic ‘Manfred’ symphony based on a poem by Lord Byron, the ‘Rococo Variations’ and his first symphony, ‘Winter Dreams’. We breathe southern scents at New Year with Respighi’s ‘Pines of Rome’. Our former chief conductor James Gaffigan returns for a guest performance with Rachmaninov’s First Symphony, also presenting the fifth Arthur Waser Prizewinner’s Concert.

We also greatly look forward to a ‘meeting of legends’: Stravinsky’s ‘Firebird’, conducted by Charles Dutoit, will be performed alongside Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto with Mikhail Pletnev as soloist.

One weekend is dedicated to works by Antonín Dvořák. The ‘New World’ symphony starts things off; the highlight is an a cappella late-night concert in the Jesuit Church, followed by the Requiem – rarely heard in Switzerland – with the magnificent Prague Philharmonic Choir.

The fiftieth anniversary of Dmitri Shostakovich’s death falls in 2025; in tribute, we perform his first cello concerto with Gautier Capuçon and his Eleventh Symphony. Evgeny Kissin’s two-part ‘Shostakovich Project’ – at the ‘Le Piano Symphonique’ festival and also at his extra recital – round off this homage.

In turn, Martha Argerich will honour us as ‘Pianiste Associée’ at the piano festival, with works by Saint-Saëns and Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto.

All this is only possible due to generous support. We would like to thank the canton and city of Lucerne for their major support. Together with the Foundation for the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester and the Michael and Emmy Lou Pieper Fund, our national and international circle of friends and our private partners, our work is made possible.

Our special thanks go to you, dear subscribers and music-lovers, who appreciate our art and visit us with such loyalty.

We look forward to seeing you soon in the concert hall.