Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The Lucerne Festival Orchestra is an ad hoc
seasonal orchestra, based at the annual Lucerne Festival
in Switzerland
. The Lucerne Festival had featured a resident orchestra as far back as 1938, with Arturo Toscanini
conducting the first concert of that ensemble. From 1943 until its disbandment in 1993, the festival orchestra consisted primarily of musicians from Switzerland. A few years later, a reconstituted festival orchestra arose, based around players from the Gustav Mahler-Jugend Orchester
and the European Community Youth Orchestra (now the European Union Youth Orchestra
).
The most recent incarnation of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra occurred at the instigation of Claudio Abbado
, after a 2000 conversation with Lucerne Festival artistic director Michael Haefliger. The core of the ensemble is the Mahler Chamber Orchestra
. The LFO features some soloists and orchestral principals from major orchestras in its ranks, including Kolja Blacher, Wolfram Christ, Mirijam Contzen, Diemut Poppen
, Natalia Gutman
, Jens-Peter Maintz, Jacques Zoon
, Reinhold Friedrich, Stefan Dohr
, Alessio Allegrini, Mark Templeton
, Franz Bartolomey, Alois Posch, Emmanuel Pahud
, Zoon Jacques, Albrecht Mayer
, Stefan Schweigert, members of the Sabine Meyer
Wind Ensemble, the Alban Berg Quartet
and Hagen Quartet
. The orchestra also includes members of ensembles with whom Abbado has a connection, such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
, the London Symphony Orchestra
and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
. Abbado is scheduled to remain as the orchestra's music director and chief conductor through 2010.
Abbado hand-picks each member of the orchestra, and the musicians assemble at the beginning of each August in Lucerne
for a total of three weeks together, with 10 days of rehearsals. Then, he and the orchestra perform the opening concerts of the festival. One overriding philosophy that Abbado emphasizes is for the musicians to listen to each other, as in chamber music, but in the context of a full orchestral ensemble. In the string sections, the section leaders assign the seating, after discussion with Abbado. Rehearsals commence with individual instrument sections before the entire ensemble collects with Abbado.
Abbado led the first performances of the newest Lucerne Festival Orchestra at the 2003 festival. Their first residency abroad in Rome
was in the autumn of 2005. October 2006 brought their first overseas guest performance, which gave a concert in Tokyo
at Suntory Hall
. The orchestra made its first Proms debut in August 2007, in a highly acclaimed performance of Gustav Mahler
's Symphony No. 3. Abbado and the orchestra were scheduled to appear in the US for the first time, at Carnegie Hall
in New York City
, in October 2007. However, in September 2007, Abbado announced that he had to withdraw from these scheduled New York concerts because of health concerns. The orchestra performed these concerts with substitute conductors Pierre Boulez
and David Robertson
.
Ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
seasonal orchestra, based at the annual Lucerne Festival
Lucerne Festival
- History :The festival was founded in 1938 with a series of concerts in the gardens of Wagner's villa conducted by Arturo Toscanini, who had formed an orchestra with members of different orchestras and soloists for the concert...
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. The Lucerne Festival had featured a resident orchestra as far back as 1938, with Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
conducting the first concert of that ensemble. From 1943 until its disbandment in 1993, the festival orchestra consisted primarily of musicians from Switzerland. A few years later, a reconstituted festival orchestra arose, based around players from the Gustav Mahler-Jugend Orchester
Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra
Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester is a youth orchestra based in Vienna, Austria, founded in 1986 by conductor Claudio Abbado.-History:...
and the European Community Youth Orchestra (now the European Union Youth Orchestra
European Union Youth Orchestra
The European Union Youth Orchestra is a training orchestra for young people in the European Union. It is funded centrally by the European Union and by a number of EU member states...
).
The most recent incarnation of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra occurred at the instigation of Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado
Claudio Abbado, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , is an Italian conductor. He has served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, principal guest conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Vienna State Opera,...
, after a 2000 conversation with Lucerne Festival artistic director Michael Haefliger. The core of the ensemble is the Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Mahler Chamber Orchestra
The Mahler Chamber Orchestra is a professional touring chamber orchestra founded by Claudio Abbado and former members of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra in 1997....
. The LFO features some soloists and orchestral principals from major orchestras in its ranks, including Kolja Blacher, Wolfram Christ, Mirijam Contzen, Diemut Poppen
Diemut Poppen
Diemut Poppen began violin lessons at the age of seven, but changed to the viola having been exposed to it through playing chamber music...
, Natalia Gutman
Natalia Gutman
Natalia Gutman is a Russian cellist. She began to study cello at the Moscow Music School with R. Sapozhnikov. She was later admitted to the Moscow Conservatory, where she was taught by Rostropovich, amongst others....
, Jens-Peter Maintz, Jacques Zoon
Jacques Zoon
-Education:Following a gymnasium education in Alkmaar, Zoon studied flute at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam with Koos Verheul and Harrie Starreveld, graduating with honors...
, Reinhold Friedrich, Stefan Dohr
Stefan Dohr
Stefan Dohr is a German horn player and currently the principal horn of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra . Apart from being a sought-after masterclass teacher, he teaches the horn at the Herbert von Karajan Academy.-Biography:Stefan Dohr studied with Prof. Wolfgang Wilhelmi at the Musikhochschule...
, Alessio Allegrini, Mark Templeton
Mark Templeton
Mark Templeton is Principal Trombone of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.Mark studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama 1994-1998 with Eric Crees, Simon Wills and Peter Gane. During this time he became principal of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra...
, Franz Bartolomey, Alois Posch, Emmanuel Pahud
Emmanuel Pahud
Emmanuel Pahud is a Swiss flute player.He was born in Geneva, Switzerland. His father is of French and Swiss background and his mother is French. The Berlin-based flutist is most known for his baroque and classical flute repertory....
, Zoon Jacques, Albrecht Mayer
Albrecht Mayer
Albrecht Mayer is a German classical oboist.-Biography:Mayer sang as a child in the Cathedral Choir in Bamberg. He was a student of Gerhard Scheuer, Georg Meerwein, Maurice Bourgue and Ingo Goritzki, and began his professional career as principal oboist for the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in 1990...
, Stefan Schweigert, members of the Sabine Meyer
Sabine Meyer
Sabine Meyer is a German classical clarinetist.-Biography:Meyer began playing the clarinet at an early age. Her first teacher was her father, also a clarinetist...
Wind Ensemble, the Alban Berg Quartet
Alban Berg Quartet
The Alban Berg Quartett was a string quartet founded in Vienna, Austria in 1970, named after the famous composer Alban Berg.-Members:- Beginnings :...
and Hagen Quartet
Hagen Quartet
The Hagen Quartet was founded in 1981 by four siblings, Lukas, Angelika , Veronika and Clemens, in Salzburg, Austria.Its current members are:* Lukas Hagen, violin...
. The orchestra also includes members of ensembles with whom Abbado has a connection, such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
The Berlin Philharmonic, German: , formerly Berliner Philharmonisches Orchester , is an orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. In 2006, a group of ten European media outlets voted the Berlin Philharmonic number three on a list of "top ten European Orchestras", after the Vienna Philharmonic and the...
, the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
The Vienna Philharmonic is an orchestra in Austria, regularly considered one of the finest in the world....
. Abbado is scheduled to remain as the orchestra's music director and chief conductor through 2010.
Abbado hand-picks each member of the orchestra, and the musicians assemble at the beginning of each August in Lucerne
Lucerne
Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...
for a total of three weeks together, with 10 days of rehearsals. Then, he and the orchestra perform the opening concerts of the festival. One overriding philosophy that Abbado emphasizes is for the musicians to listen to each other, as in chamber music, but in the context of a full orchestral ensemble. In the string sections, the section leaders assign the seating, after discussion with Abbado. Rehearsals commence with individual instrument sections before the entire ensemble collects with Abbado.
Abbado led the first performances of the newest Lucerne Festival Orchestra at the 2003 festival. Their first residency abroad in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
was in the autumn of 2005. October 2006 brought their first overseas guest performance, which gave a concert in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
at Suntory Hall
Suntory Hall
The Suntory Hall is a concert hall complex consisting of the "Main Hall" and the "Small Hall" located in the Ark Hills complex, near the U.S. Embassy and TV Asahi in the Akasaka district of northern Minato, a ward in Tokyo, Japan...
. The orchestra made its first Proms debut in August 2007, in a highly acclaimed performance of Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
's Symphony No. 3. Abbado and the orchestra were scheduled to appear in the US for the first time, at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, in October 2007. However, in September 2007, Abbado announced that he had to withdraw from these scheduled New York concerts because of health concerns. The orchestra performed these concerts with substitute conductors Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
and David Robertson
David Robertson (conductor)
David Eric Robertson is an American conductor. He is currently the music director of the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.-Early life:...
.
Recordings
Abbado and the orchestra have made a number of acclaimed recordings in CD and DVD formats. These include:CD
- Claude DebussyClaude DebussyClaude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
's La MerLa Mer (Debussy)La mer, trois esquisses symphoniques pour orchestre , or simply La mer , is an orchestral composition by the French composer Claude Debussy. It was started in 1903 in France and completed in 1905 on the English Channel coast in Eastbourne...
and Mahler's Second SymphonySymphony No. 2 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 2 by Gustav Mahler, known as the Resurrection, was written between 1888 and 1894, and first performed in 1895. Apart from the Eighth Symphony, this symphony was Mahler's most popular and successful work during his lifetime. It is his first major work that would eventually mark his...
(Deutsche Grammophon)
DVD
- Gustav MahlerGustav MahlerGustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
's Symphonies No. 2Symphony No. 2 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 2 by Gustav Mahler, known as the Resurrection, was written between 1888 and 1894, and first performed in 1895. Apart from the Eighth Symphony, this symphony was Mahler's most popular and successful work during his lifetime. It is his first major work that would eventually mark his...
(with the Orfeón DonostiarraOrfeón DonostiarraThe Orfeón Donostiarra is a concert choir based in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain.-History:The choir was formed in 1897 in San Sebastián. The first music directors were Oñate, Luzuriaga and Esnaola. In June 1906 the group was awarded the Gran Prix of Paris. The next music director was Juan...
, Eteri Gvazava and Anna Larsson), No. 3Symphony No. 3 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 3 by Gustav Mahler was written between 1893 and 1896. It is his longest piece and is the longest symphony in the standard repertoire, with a typical performance lasting around ninety to one hundred minutes.- Structure :...
, No. 5Symphony No. 5 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor by Gustav Mahler was composed in 1901 and 1902, mostly during the summer months at Mahler's cottage at Maiernigg. Among its most distinctive features are the funereal trumpet solo that opens the work and the frequently performed Adagietto.The musical canvas and...
, No. 6Symphony No. 6 (Mahler)The Symphony No. 6 in A minor by Gustav Mahler, sometimes referred to as the Tragische , was composed between 1903 and 1904 . The work's first performance was in Essen, on May 27, 1906, conducted by the composer.The tragic, even nihilistic ending of No...
, and No. 7Symphony No. 7 (Mahler)Gustav Mahler's Seventh Symphony was written in 1904-05, with repeated revisions to the scoring. It is sometimes referred to by the title Song of the Night , though this title was not Mahler's own and he disapproved of it. Although the symphony is often described as being in the key of 'E minor,'...
, and Claude DebussyClaude DebussyClaude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
's La MerLa Mer (Debussy)La mer, trois esquisses symphoniques pour orchestre , or simply La mer , is an orchestral composition by the French composer Claude Debussy. It was started in 1903 in France and completed in 1905 on the English Channel coast in Eastbourne... - Lucerne Festival Orchestra's documentaries
External links
- Lucerne Festival Orchestra (Official website)