Retrospective of the piano festival «Le Piano Symphonique» 2023

Evgeny Kissin & Renée Fleming already enchanted the audience in January with songs by Schubert, Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Duparc.

Rudolf Buchbinder played Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Twelve Variations in C on the French Song «Ah, vous dirai-je Maman» KV265),...

...Ludwig van Beethoven (Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor op. 57 «Appassionata») as well as the Symphonic Etudes op. 13 by Robert Schumann.

The art of harpsichord playing with Jean Rondeau in the unique setting of the Neubad, Lucerne. He played Jean-Philippe Rameau, including the Prélude in A minor, as well as François Couperin and Pancrace Royer.

The grand dame of the piano, Martha Argerich filled the KKL, sold out to the last seat, with esprit and energy. Together with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Sanderling, the 3rd Symphony in F major op. 90 by Johannes Brahms and the Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A minor op. 54 by Robert Schumann were performed.

The concerto for piano and orchestra in A minor op. 17 by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, which is unjustifiably rarely performed, was played by the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester under the direction of Michael Sanderling and the solo pianist and young talent , Yoav Levanon.

Víkingur Ólafsson impressed with a demanding programme: different studies by Philip Glass, the 1st movement of Baldassare Galuppi's Sonata No. 9 in F minor, Sonata No. 55 in A minor by Domenico Cimarosa, Edmund Finnis Mirror Images – a Swiss premiere and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 1st movement of Sonata No. 16 in C major KV545.

The recital and lunchtime concert by Lukáš Vondráček was complemented by a selection from the Piano Pieces op. 7 by Josef Suk, two Czech dances from the second book by Bedřich Smetana...

...as well as the Kreisleriana op. 16 and the arabesque op. 18 by Robert Schumann.

Jonathan Nott came to Lucerne with «his» Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) and Khatia Buniatishvili. Arthur Honegger's «Rugby» , Mouvement symphonique No. 2,...

...Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 23 in B flat minor, and Igor Stravinsky's «Petrushka» elicited a standing ovation from the audience.

For his second concert, Yoav Levanon was setting an example in our orchestra house in Kries. His recital included pieces by Clara Schumann (Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, Op. 20),...

...the Variations sérieuses op. 54 by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Carl Vine's Piano Sonata No. 1 from 1990 and also by Franz Liszt (Piano Sonata in B minor p.178).

Martha Argerich and her friends, cellist Mischa Maisky and baritone Thomas Hampson closed the festival week....

Robert Schumann's «Dichterliebe», the song cycle op. 48, Frédéric Chopin's Sonata for Violoncello and Piano in G minor op. 65 and Robert Schumann's Fantasy Pieces op. 73 provided applause for several minutes.