August 2016
In August, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra returns to its annual summer residency in Lucerne. The tradition goes back to the year 2003, when Claudio Abbado (1933–2014) invited the MCO to form the core of his newly founded Lucerne Festival Orchestra. This year, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra plays a total of six concerts.
The opening concerts, with the MCO as the core of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, are conducted by the orchestra’s new Music Director Riccardo Chailly (12 & 13 August). Two further performances celebrate conductor Bernard Haitink’s 50th anniversary in Lucerne (19 & 20 August). In keeping with this year’s festival focus on women in music, under the title PrimaDonna, the MCO gives a concert (23 August) featuring Barbara Hannigan as soloist and conductor. Audiences can get a glimpse into the programme through a 40-minute “preview” concert on the previous day (22 August).
The Lucerne Festival, set on idyllic Lake Lucerne in central Switzerland, is one of the world’s most renowned classical music festivals and a meeting place for leading performers from all over the globe. Even as it has begun to extend outward from the lake to fill the city, the Kongress and Kulturzentrum Luzern (KKL), Jean Nouvel’s concert hall famous for its exquisite acoustics and architecture, remains the heart of festival.
