NATURE & FAITH – BEETHOVEN’S PASTORAL AND MASS IN C MAJOR

Beethoven as the centre of energy radiates throughout this season – into Romanticism, into modernity and back to the classical core repertoire of the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester. This concert shows Beethoven at an important point of transition: between classical form, symphonic thinking and a new expressive power.

The Mass in C major op. 86 stands stylistically between the festive, representative masses of Joseph Haydn and Beethoven’s later, more clearly symphonic “Missa solemnis”. The choral writing ranges from block-like appeals to artfully shaped fugato passages. The Collegium Vocale zu Franziskanern Luzern, a Lucerne choir of outstanding quality, performs the choral part; the soloists are singers from the Luzerner Theater.

After the interval, Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony leads out into nature. The “Pastoral” is not merely landscape painting, but music full of inner movement: murmuring brooks, rural scenes, a genuine thunderstorm and finally grateful calm after the storm.

On the podium is Maxime Pascal, a French conductor who has gained an international profile both in historically informed performance and in contemporary projects. The result promises not heavy monumentality, but clarity, precision of detail and vivid musical speech.