“Power” is the theme of this year's Summer Festival, which addresses a topic that has multifaceted connections to music. Three faces of “Power” reflect prototypical layers of society that wield power: political or state power, the clergy, and the aristocracy (both inherited and monied). Music can pay tribute to power or rebel against it, but it also possesses a considerable potency of its own: it can stir up and manipulate, comfort, or invigorate listeners.

The 2019 Summer Festival concerts will explore various issues relating to power. One example concerns the issue of how those in power have influenced the fates and output of composers – as we find with Shostakovich (Symphony Concert: SC4, SC13), Prokofiev (SC5), and Korngold (SC18). And they will also shed light on what access to power meant for how composers saw themselves – whether those who, like Ludwig van Beethoven (SC10), believed they were prophets or those who, like Richard Wagner (SC17), built temples for their own art.

The spectrum that will be covered ranges from the power of fate, which is represented by three Tchaikovsky symphonies (SC1, SC11, and SC12), through the political appropriation of art (Beethoven's Ninth: SC10), to the "overpowering" effects with which composers manage to captivate their audiences (e.g., Bruckner: SC7, SC19, SC20). These issues of power become paradigmatically clear in the Mozart-Da Ponte opera cycle that Teodor Currentzis will conduct: Figaro (SC25) revolves around political power, Don Giovanni (SC27) around erotic power, and Così fan tutte (SC28) around psychological power.

Selected Themes/Projects/Related Groupings

Mozart-da Ponte Cycle
Mozart Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492 Symphony Concert 25 – Mozart-Da Ponte- Cycle 1

musicAeterna Orchestra and Chorus of Perm Opera Teodor Currentzis (conductor) | with Andrei Bondarenko, Ekaterina Scherbachenko, Alex Esposito, Olga Kulchynska, Paula Murrihy and additional soloists

12 September | 18.30 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Mozart Don Giovanni, K. 527

Symphony Concert 27 – Mozart-Da Ponte-
Cycle 2

musicAeterna Orchestra and Chorus of Perm Opera Teodor Currentzis (conductor) | with Ekaterina Scherbachenko, Nadezhda Pavlova, Dimitris Tiliakos, Christina Gansch, Robert Lloyd, Kenneth Tarver, and additional soloists
14 September | 18.30 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Mozart Così fan tutte, K. 588
Symphony Concert 28 – Mozart-Da Ponte-
Cycle 3

musicAeterna Orchestra and Chorus of Perm Opera Teodor Currentzis (conductor) | with Nadezhda Pavlova, Paula Murrihy, Konstantin Suchkov, Cecilia Bartoli, and Konstantin Wolff

15 September | 16.00 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Thomas Kessler Utopia III for large
orchestra and multiple live electronics
…said the shotgun to the head for slammer, 
slam chorus, and orchestra

Orchestra of the Lucerne Festival Academy | Mivos Quartet | Slam Chorus | David Fulmer conductor (Utopia III) | Joachim Haas (SWR Experimentalstudio) sound director for Utopia III rehearsal | Ruth Reinhardt (conductor) (…said the shotgun to the head) | Saul Williams speaker
24 August | 21.00 | KKL Luzern, Lucerne Hall

Shostakovich
Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Op. 43
Symphony Concert 4

Lucerne Festival Orchestra | Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor)
22 August | 19.30 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Shostakovich
Symphony No. 10 in E minor, Op. 93
Symphony Concert 13

Mariinsky Orchestra | Valery Gergiev (conductor)
31 August | 18.30 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major,
Op. 19
Symphony Concert 5

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra | Long Yu (conductor)
Frank Peter Zimmermann violin
23 August | 19.30 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Prokofiev Violin Sonata No. 1 in F minor,
Op. 80
Recital 1 – Violin

Leonidas Kavakos violin | Yuja Wang piano
19 August | 19.30 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Violin

Prokofiev
Violin Sonata No. 2 in D major, Op. 94b
Debut 6

Bomsori Kim violin | Michail Lifits piano
10 September | 12.15 | Lukaskirche

Korngold Violin Concerto in D major,
Op. 35
Symphony Concert 18

Vienna Philharmonic | Andrés Orozco-Estrada (conductor) | Leonidas Kavakos violin
5 September | 19.30 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 in F minor,
Op. 36
Symphony Concert 1

Lucerne Festival Orchestra | Riccardo Chailly (conductor)
17 August | 18.30 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 in E minor,
Op. 64
Symphony Concert 11

Berlin Philharmonic | Kirill Petrenko (conductor)
29 August | 19.30 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 in B minor,
Op. 74 Pathétique
Symphony Concert 12

Mariinsky Orchestra | Valery Gergiev (conductor)
30. August | 19.30 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Wagner Tristan und Isolde Concert
performance of Act 2
Symphony Concert 17

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam | Daniel Harding (conductor) | Stuart Skelton Tristan | Christine Goerke Isolde | Jamie Barton Brangäne | Mark Omvlee Melot | Stefan Astakhov Kurwenal | Matthias Goerne King Marke
4 September | 19.30 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor,
Op. 125
Symphony Concert 10

Berlin Philharmonic | Berlin Radio Choir (Gijs Leenaars chorus master) | Kirill Petrenko (conductor) | Marlis Petersen soprano | Elisabeth Kulman alto | Benjamin Bruns tenor | Kwangchul Youn bass
28 August | 19.30 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Bruckner Symphony No. 8 in C minor,
WAB 108 (Robert Haas version)
Symphony Concert 7

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra | Andris Nelsons (conductor)
25 August | 18.30 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Bruckner Symphony No. 7 in E major,
WAB 107
Symphony Concert 19

Vienna Philharmonic | Bernard Haitink (conductor)
6 September | 19.30 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Bruckner Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major,
WAB 105
Symphony Concert 20

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra | Lahav Shani (conductor)
7 September | 18.30 | KKL Luzern, Concert Hall

Contacts for Press and Public Relations
Nina Steinhart, Head of PR | n.steinhart@lucernefestival.ch | t +41 (0)41 226 44 43
Katharina Schillen | k.schillen@lucernefestival.ch | t +41 (0)41 226 44 59

For a more elaborate explanation of the programme please refer to the extended media release.