Since its relaunch by Claudio Abbado in 2003, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra has been one of the most outstanding orchestral institutions in the world of classical music.
Every year the orchestra brings together many different musicians from across the globe: orchestral players, professors, soloists and chamber musicians. The Mahler Chamber Orchestra has traditionally been an integral part of the LFO, with many of our musicians playing in the orchestra each year, a great honour for us. This was my first time playing in the LFO, which added even more excitement and anticipation to these wonderful programmes in the coming two-and-a-half weeks.
We began rehearsing the first two programmes with Maestro Riccardo Chailly, who commenced his fourth summer as Music Director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. It included Tchaikovsky's powerful but playful fourth symphony, as well as the complex but shimmering third symphony by Rachmaninoff, which he wrote in his self-built Villa Senar on the shore of Lake Lucerne. The soloist for both evenings, Denis Matsuev, shined in Rachmaninoff’s third piano concerto with a staggering performance of this extremely demanding composition. Hats off and bravo!
In between the rehearsals the musicians usually have a bit of leisure time, which many people use for a nice cup of coffee and to take in the unbelievable views of the lake. Others hike in the beautiful natural surroundings, take a boat for a trip across the lake, or just explore the dazzling city of Lucerne itself. The picturesque architecture always takes your breath away.
My dear flatmate Guilhaume, his family and I took one afternoon to explore the famous Verkehrsmuseum one stop away from KKL. The museum has an impressive collection of cars, boats, planes, trains and virtually everything else which has to do with transportation … including shopping carts! Guilhaume even had a chance to try his hand as a virtual crane operator, which he mastered with a lot of success. On another day we rented a motor boat to explore the lake and went swimming in several of the bay areas. What a gorgeous way to spend one’s leisure time!