News

100 Years Yehudi Menuhin – 60 Years Menuhin Festival

24 March 2016

Intendant Christoph Müller has unveiled the programme for 2016 of the Gstaad Menuhin Festival and Academy, and it offers a bouquet of fireworks to mark our double anniversary: the centenary anniversary of founder Yehudi Menuhin’s birth as well as the 60th anniversary of the festival. The programme in 2016 contains more than 70 concerts conceived around the theme “Music & Family”.

The Gstaad Menuhin Festival & Academy, taking place from 14 July to 3 September 2016, that is…

• Great stars for the first time in Gstaad: Lang Lang (who will give a recital and lead a workshop in the tent in Gstaad), Daniel Hope, Gabriela Montero, Arabella Steinbacher, Fazil Say, Sabine Meyer, Boris Berezovsky, Renaud Capuçon, and many more

• Cartes blanches for exceptional artists such as: Maria João Pires (who will introduce two rising stars on the piano), András Schiff, the Australian Chamber Orchestra with Richard Tognetti, Patricia Kopatchinskaja

• Outstanding families of musicians: the Perl gamba consort (together with Maurice Steger and Polina Pasztircsák), the Ottensamer dynasty of clarinetists, the pianis sisters Katia & Gvantsa Buniatishvili and Karia & Marielle Labèque

• A number of evenings in honor of Yehudi Menuhin: the exact duplication of the concert Menuhin performed in Berlin on 12 April 1929 featuring concertos by Bach (E major), Beethoven and Brahms performed in Saanen by young international prize winners, the final concert featuring six great violinists (Roby Lakatos, Volker Biesenbender, Didier Lockwood…) with Kristjan Järvi leading the Berne Symphony Orchestra

• High-caliber recitals in the region’s magnificent churches: the Mosaïques Quartet, the Ebène Quartet and the Schumann Quartet, Alina Ibragimova and her Chiaroscuro Quartet together with Kristian Bezuidenhout, Bertrand Chamayou’s “Projet Ravel”, the duo of Diana Damrau and Xavier de Maistre, the trio of Isabelle Faust, Jean-Guihen Queyras and Alexander Melnikov

• Symphonic concerts in the Festival Tent in Gstaad: two Russian programmes with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra from Saint Petersburg, an Italian programme with Riccardo Chailly and the Teatro alla Scala Orchestra, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Giovanni Antonini and the Basel Chamber Orchestra

• The Gstaad Festival Orchestra – the festival’s “home” orchestra, conducted by Kristjan and Neeme Järvi, performs not only at the festival but on tour throughout Europe. The ensemble is an active participant at the Gstaad Conducting Academy and soon also will be flying the Festival’s flag on disc with the release of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” for Sony in January 2016: www.gstaadfestivalorchestra.com

But also…

• Choral and vocal concerts: Mozart’s Requiem with Paul McCreesh, an opera gala in the tent with Anja Harteros, Bryn Terfel and the London Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Gianandrea Noseda

• Premieres: the music and words of Robert & Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms brought to life by actors Senta Berger and Stefan Gubser, pianist Dejan Lazic and the Swiss Piano Trio for two poetic soirée concerts

• A healthy portion of early music: harpsichordist Jean Rondeau’s revelations, an evening of Italian opera with countertenor Philippe Jaroussky

• Concerts and events for children and families: “Beethoven4all”, immersion in the German genius’ music that culminates in the evening with his 9th Symphony

• A platform for young soloists: the eight “Matinées des Jeunes Etoiles” concerts at the chapel in Gstaad on Saturdays, soloists from the International Menuhin Music Academy (IMMA) with Maxim Vengerov, prizewinners from the Kiefer-Hablitzel Foundation

• A showcase for the best Swiss artists: pianists Louis Schwizgebel-Wang and Francesco Piemontesi, the Oreade Trio

• Musical moments far from the beaten track: the “Cello Night in Brazil Mood” featuring cellists Sol Gabetta and Ivan Monighetti, a “Late Night” with Gilles Apap, a concert filled with Latin rhythms with the Ebène Quartet and singer Stacey Kent, concerts on a glacier and in an Alpine pasture

Without forgetting…

• The various academies which are growing in size and importance with each year (Conducting, Piano, String, Voice, Baroque Academy / the orchestra weeks Play@ for young and amateur musicians), each with its own offering of masterclasses and concerts open to the public under the title “L'Heure Bleue” [the blue hour]: www.gstaadacademy.ch