The tension between the modern and the traditional has long been the motto of LUCERNE FESTIVAL: the SOMMER 2001 festival will finish on September 15 with a programme of contemporary music from Switzerland and a concert presented by the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala with Riccardo Muti. On August 15, the festival began in an equally programmatic manner with works by Heinz Holliger and Ludwig van Beethoven, a concert by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe with Heinz Holliger, followed by a grandiose fire spectacle of the French “Groupe F” in front of 40,000 spectators. On 32 festival days, you were able to listen to 80 concerts while the guest performers of the festival numbered 27 orchestras and ensembles as well as countless soloists and chamber-music groups. The concerts were accompanied by introductory events, round-table discussions, films, and a two-day symposium on the festival topic of “Creation”. This was the conclusion of a programmatic trilogy that began in 1999 with “Myths” and continued in 2000 with “Metamorphoses”. A special focus was provided by the six-part cycle of Prometheus which particularly emphasized the programmatic link between the symphony concerts and «moderne.lucerne» that Artistic and Executive Director Michael Haefliger had initiated. The first Swiss performance of Prometeo by Luigi Nono turned into the climax of the entire festival. A grand total of 11 concerts were dedicated to composers-in-residence Elliott Carter (USA) and Hanspeter Kyburz (Switzerland). Within the scope of SOMMER 2001, Elliott Carter’s Quartet for Oboe and Hanspeter Kyburz’s orchestra work Noesis were performed for the first time ever. «Artiste étoile» Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin) presented herself in five different programmes as a soloist with a symphony or chamber orchestra, as a chamber musician in a trio and in a violin recital, and proved to be a particularly versatile and thoroughly fascinating artist. For the first time, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra – the phenomenal orchestra from Lucerne’s sister city – was the orchestra-in-residence. In the various concert series – in symphony concerts, with «moderne.lucerne» and in chamber-music and recital programmes -– a total of nine new compositions were performed for the very first time, among them three works by Swiss composers. The series of Baroque concerts with La petite Bande, Akademie für alte Musik, and Les Arts Florissant brought three of the currently best groups performing according to historical practice to Lucerne. The new series of Children’s Corner, master-classes and «debut.lucerne» almost reached absolute capacity at 91.3% and turned out to be this year’s most favoured attraction. Besides, the three programmes of the Weltruf cycle with its Southern Indian temple dance, a West-African ethnic opera and a dance theatre from Taiwan equally fascinated the audience. All in all, 74,236 visitors attended the LUCERNE FESTIVAL, SOMMER 2001 event. The overall capacity coverage was 85.9%, that of the symphony concerts a fantastic 97.2%. For the first time in the history of LUCERNE FESTIVAL, revenues achieved by the ticket sales exceeded CHF 10 million (2000: CHF 8.23 million). The total budget of the Festival amounts to CHF 22 million. In addition, 190 media representatives from 18 countries were accredited by LUCERNE FESTIVAL.