VISION AND TRADITION
Now in its eighth year, we can say with pleasure and a little pride that we have succeeded in establishing our festival in the calendar of international music lovers.
The Swiss Alps Classics stands for beautiful, sometimes extraordinary venues around the mystical St. Gotthard as well as for personal proximity to world-class artists. Star pianists such as LANG LANG, Igor LEVIT or Katia & Marielle LABÈQUE, the opera greats Olga PERETYATKO, Marisol MONTALVO and Herbert LIPPERT, the violin virtuosos Maxim BRILINSKY, Ziyu HE, Benjamin SCHMID & Emmanuel TJEKNAVORIAN, who also appeared as a conductor in 2019 & 2021, the internationally renowned composer and clarinettist Jörg WIDMANN, acclaimed formations such as the PHILHARMONIA SCHRAMMELN WIEN, TRIOLOGY or the JANOSKA ENSEMBLE as well as members of the WIENER PHILHARMONIKER have honored us in the course of the past festivals. Actress Isabel KARAJAN and Swiss-born Dieter FLURY, long-time principal flautist and former managing director of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the "family duo" Elena BASHKIROVA-BARENBOIM and Michael BARENBOIM and Hans and Martin HASELBÖCK also enjoyed the unmistakable atmosphere of Swiss Alps Classics.
The Nätschen middle station, the Sasso San Gottardo Crystal Hall and the Benedictine monastery in Disentis have already served as unusual concert venues. As part of the 2022 festival, we made our first guest appearance at the Bürgenstock Resort Lake Lucerne with its fantastic view of Lake Lucerne. In the equally picturesque setting of the Park Hotel Vitznau, located directly on Lake Lucerne, we were able to continue our collaboration with the POK Pühringer Private Foundation and the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, which began in 2018. We were also able to offer another concert at The Chedi Andermatt hotel and the Andermatt Concert Hall.
We celebrated two further premieres as part of the 2023 festival: Under the direction of its chief conductor Michael SANDERLING, the LUCERNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, founded in 1805, performed with us for the first time in the Andermatt Concert Hall, with Sebastian BOHREN shining as soloist with Beethoven's Violin Concerto, and we made our first guest appearance in the new chamber music hall of Kultur Kulinarik Vitznau, which opened in February 2023 and in which we not only continued our long-standing collaboration with the POK Pühringer Private Foundation and the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, but were also able to realize our heartfelt desire to showcase the cultural and touristic uniqueness of the region beyond the borders of Central Switzerland.
For this year's festival, which took place from May 3 to 4, 2024, we were delighted to welcome the Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg HEMSING with the string ensemble of the LUCERNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA and the Norwegian pianist Håvard GIMSE at the Andermatt Concert Hall on Friday, May 3, 2024. On Saturday, May 4, 2024, the LUCERNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA once again performed under the direction of Emmanuel TJEKNAVORIAN from Vienna as conductor and with cellist Anastasia KOBEKINA as soloist.
Next year, the 9th Swiss Alps Classics will take place from July 4 to 6, 2025. The guest orchestra on Sunday, July 6, 2025, will be none other than the Filarmonica della Scala, one of the most famous orchestras in the world. "We have been working for three years to bring this top ensemble to Andermatt," explains Peter-Michael Reichel. "This idea has been around since Dominique Meyer became artistic director in Milan and I know him from his time in Vienna. I am extremely pleased that it will work out next year." Julian Rachlin, conductor & violin, will conduct the Filarmonica della Scala in the Andermatt Concert Hall. On Saturday, July 5, 2025, we welcome Aidan Siqi Zhao and Deva Mira Sperandio, two rising stars of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, for a piano recital in the Andermatt Concert Hall. These guest performances take place in cooperation with Andermatt Music.