“What an evening. What a kickoff. The future of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra – it has now begun.” This is how Peter Hagmann of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung described Riccardo Chailly’s debut as the new artistic director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra last year. Chailly devoted himself in his second year in Lucerne to the works of composers that strongly influenced him during his conducting career. Among these are Felix Mendelssohn and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The program included Mendelssohn’s enchanting tone poems to Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Tchaikovsky’s “Manfred Symphony”, based on the poem written by Lord Byron.
Lucerne Festival 2016: Inaugural Concert of Riccardo Chailly – Mahler 8
“To be responsible for this outstanding artistic project that Claudio Abbado has initiated is not only a privilege but it has touched me deeply.” These are the very words Riccardo Chailly uses to describe his new job in Lucerne. The conductor, who left his post as music director of the Gewandhaus Leipzig and became principal conductor at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan last year, follows in this new position Arturo Toscanini and Claudio Abbado, thus becoming the third chief conductor of this unique orchestra. On August 12, 2016, Riccardo Chailly premiered as conductor of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra with an opening concert: The orchestra and its principal conductor paid their respects to the late Abbado with Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8. An inaugural concert that with its superb cast of musicians became a memorable event!
Puccini: Gianni Schicchi (Kerstmatinee 2000)
Puccini’s ‘Gianni Schicchi’ perfomed at the AVRO Kerstmatinee 2000 by Riccardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Puccini: Suor Angelica (Kerstmatinee 1999)
Riccardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with a highly acclaimed perfomance of Puccini’s opera in one act, ‘Suor Angelica’, at the legendary AVRO Kerstmatinee in 1999.
Puccini: Il tabarro (Kerstmatinee 1998)
From the main hall of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam: Riccardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra perfoming Puccini’s opera in one act, ‘Il tabarro’. Joining them is a great cast of high-class singers. Amongst them star tenor José Cura.
Riccardo Chailly – Mahler Cycle
The complete Mahler symphonies with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig conducted by Riccardo Chailly recorded at the Gewandhaus Leipzig. Symphony No. 2 in C minor: 96’ min / / Symphony No. 3 (available in 2015) / Symphony No. 4 in G major: 62’ min / Symphony No. 5: 74′ min / Symphony No. 6: 87′ min / Symphony No. 8 in E flat major: 93’ min / Symphony No. 9: 86′ min.
Lucerne Festival 2024: Chailly conducts Rachmaninoff
The Lucerne Festival Orchestra under Riccardo Chailly continues its Rachmaninov journey on Lake Lucerne. The program includes the rare Symphonic Movement in D minor, the Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 and the Scherzo in D minor. In the spotlight: the shooting star Alexander Malofeev, who performs the Piano Concerto No. 1. Alexander Malofeev, who attracted the attention of the classical music world at a young age, is, according to Riccardo Chailly, “more than just a child prodigy” and, despite his young age, possesses not only technical mastery but also a musical maturity that makes him the “ideal Rachmaninov interpreter”.
Lucerne Festival 2024: Chailly conducts Mahler 7
The Lucerne Festival Orchestra opens the 2024 edition of the summer festival on Lake Lucerne with Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 7, the most complex and mysterious of his symphonies and for a long time his least frequently performed work. The conductor will be none other than the Italian conductor Riccardo Chailly, himself an ardent admirer of the Viennese master.
Lucerne Festival 2022: Chailly conducts Rachmaninov
For Riccardo Chailly, celebrating Rachmaninov in Lucerne is something dear to his heart. This summer, he is devoting himself to the Symphony No. 2 in E Minor – the composer’s richest and densest contribution to the genre, evoking Tchaikovsky in form, as well as Borodin and Sibelius in the epic, almost Nordic spirit of its music.
Lucerne Festival 2022: Riccardo Chailly & Mao Fujita
Sergei Rachmaninov is perhaps most remembered—and beloved—for his piano concertos, which still stand as pillars of Romanticism, though mostly written in the 20th century. At the 2022 Lucerne Festival, virtuoso pianist Mao Fujita performs the composer’s celebrated Piano Concerto No. 2—absolutely brimming with memorable melody and poignant harmony—alongside maestro Riccardo Chailly at the head of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra!