LUCERNE FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA

Claudio Abbado open as Conductor of the new orchestra the SUMMER LUCERNE FESTIVAL 2003

Right from the beginning the Lucerne Festival distinguished itself by its own orchestra. In 1938, in front of the Villa Tribschen, Richard Wagner’s former home, Arturo Toscanini conducted a “Concert de Gala” which went down in the annals of the festival. From this arose the idea of a Swiss Festival Orchestra. After its formation in the Forties this orchestra played exclusively during the festival. Thanks to names like Ernest Ansermet, Bruno Walter, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Rafael Kubelik and Herbert von Karajan the Swiss Festival Orchestra acquired a high international reputation and characterized the International Festival of Music Lucerne (as it was then known) until 1993. Many famous conductors of today made their debut in Lucerne with the SFO.

Based on this big tradition the conductor Claudio Abbado and artistic director Michael Haefliger took the initiative to form yet again a Festival Orchestra.

This newly conceived Lucerne Festival Orchestra is a worldwide unique formation. In this orchestra great soloists play for the first time and exclusively in Lucerne together and will offer us performances of various works of the symphonic repertoire.

Conducted by Claudio Abbado the following musicians will play: Kolja Blacher, Renaud Capucon, Lukas Hagen and Rainer Kußmaul (violin), Wolfram Christ, Veronika Hagen and Diemut Poppen (viola), Georg Faust, Natalia Gutmann and Clemens Hagen (cello), Alois Posch (double bass), Albrecht Mayer (oboe), Emmanuel Pahud (flute) and Sabine Meyer (clarinet). They will be joined by various members of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

The musicians meet at the beginning of August in Lucerne for a rehearsal period and will inaugurate the Lucerne Festival, Summer 203 on August 14th with a concert conducted by Claudio Abbado. The programme consists of Wotan’s Farewell (from Wagner’s The Valkyrie) as well as two works by Claude Debussy, the suite from Le Martyre de Saint Sébastien and La Mer. Apart from that several members of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra will also play chamber music in various formations. Thus it will be possible to hear, amongst other works, Schumann’s piano quintet, Schubert’s Trout Quintet with Radu Lupu and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Brandenburg Concertos conducted by Claudio Abbado.

Two performances of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 on August 19th and 20th conclude the first cycle of this newly founded orchestra. It goes without saying that Claudio Abbado will be at the helm of “his” new orchestra for these concerts.

FOCUS

Violinen
1. Violinen
Kolja Blacher
Antonello Manacorda
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Sebastian Breuninge
1. Konzertmeister Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Markus Däunert
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Renaud Capucon
Solist
Serguei Galaktionov
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Lukas Hagen Hagen-Quartett
Iris Juda
Kammermusikerin, Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Domenico Pierini
Konzertmeister Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra
Naoko Ogihara
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Ian Swensen
Head of the String Departement at the San Francisco Conservatory und Kammermusiker
Henja Semmler
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Isabelle Briner
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Annette zu Castell
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
May Kunstovny
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Brigitte Lang
stellv. Konzertmeisterin NDR-Sinfonieorchester Hamburg
Evelina Antcheva
Praktikantin bei der NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover
Peter Clemente
Kammermusiker, Clemente Trio

2. Violinen

Hanns-Joachim Westphal
Berliner Philharmoniker, Primarius des Westphal-Streichquartetts
Rainer Schmidt Hagen-Quartett
Johannes Lörstad
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Etienne Abelin
Musikakademie Basel
Daniel Möller
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Monika Baer
Konzertmeisterin Kammerorchester Basel
Stefan Arzberger Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Geoffroy Schied
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Mette Tjaerby
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Kirsty Hilton
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Quinten de Roos
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Helena Winkelman Kammermusikerin, Komponistin
Paulien Holthuis
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Alexander Kagan
Kammermusik
Cindy Albracht
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Maria Kagan
Kammermusikerin
Riikka Sundquist
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Michiel Commandeur
Mahler Chamber Orchestra

Viola

Wolfram Christ
Musikhochschule Freiburg
Diemut Poppen
Kammermusiker, Musikhochschule Saarbrücken
Tanja Christ
ehem. Berliner Philharmoniker
Béatrice Muthelet
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Sylvia Hagen
Kammermusikerin
Jörg Winkler
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Dirk Niewöhner
Münchner Philharmoniker
Barbara Holicka
Studentin, Solistenstudium Hochschule für Musik Freiburg bei Prof. W. Christ
Nimrod Guez
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Verena Wehling
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Susanne Lerche
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Simone Jandl
Studentin Musikhochschule Freiburg
Delphine Tissot
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Hannah Franke
Studentin Musikhochschule Freiburg
Aida-Carmen Soanea Kammermusikerin
Stéphane Gonties
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

Cello

Georg Faust
1. Solocellist Berliner Philharmoniker
Natalia Gutman
Clemens Hagen
Hagen-Quartett, Solist
Gautier Capucon
Solist
Sissy Schmidhuber
Münchner Philharmoniker
Enrico Bronzi
Trio di Parma, Gewinner des Paulo Cello Wettbewerbes in Helsinki
Thomas Ruge
Münchner Philharmoniker
Claudia Benker Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Konstantin Pfiz
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Benoit Grenet
ehemaliges Mitglied im Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester
Stefan Faludi
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Rafael Rosenfeld
Kammermusiker
Stefano Guarino
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Philipp v. Steinaecker
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Lee, Chui-Yee Trey
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Tobias Bloos
Kammermusiker

Kontrabass

Alois Posch
Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Musikuniversität
Christine Felsch
Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Slawomir Grenda
Solobassist Münchner Philharmoniker
Tobias Lampelzammer Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Georg Kekeisen
Solobassist Bamberger Symphoniker
Frank Sanderell
Solobassist Tonhalle Orchester Zürich
Christian Geldsetzer
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Tino Steffen
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Amerigo Bernardi
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Andreas Wylezol
1. Solokontrabassist Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden