An open-air concert in the Renaissance courtyard of Valencia’s Old University offers a summer evening of classical music in a uniquely atmospheric setting. The program focuses on works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, enriched by the rarely heard Overture from Vicente Martín y Soler’s opera L’arbore di Diana. Japanese pianist Mao Fujita, who is praised for the clarity, naturalness, and refinement of his Mozart interpretations, performs Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467. The concert concludes with Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183, an early, intensely expressive work characterized by its dramatic drive and youthful urgency. With the Orquesta de Valencia led by Alexander Liebreich, the evening promises a vivid and elegant celebration of classical music — beautifully framed by one of Valencia’s most historic and atmospheric courtyards.
Alim Beisembayev plays Chopin and Karlowicz
Recorded at the prestigious Poznan Philharmonic Concert Hall, this concert brings together three major figures of Polish music history. The Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra performs under the baton of Lukasz Borowicz, with celebrated pianist Alim Beisembayev as soloist. The programme opens with Stanislaw Moniuszko’s Overture to the opera Halka, one of the key works of Poland’s national operatic tradition. This is followed by Mieczyslaw Karlowicz’s Eternal Songs, Op. 10, a richly atmospheric symphonic poem and a landmark of the Polish late-Romantic repertoire. The centrepiece of the evening is Fryderyk Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11, a celebrated concerto that combines virtuosic brilliance with lyrical intimacy, placing the solo piano at the heart of an evocative orchestral setting.
Lucerne Festival 2026: Riccardo Chailly & Lukas Sternath
A program of rich colors and late-Romantic intensity unfolds as Riccardo Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra open the evening with Scriabin’s shimmering Rêverie, a brief yet atmospheric sound vision. Rising star Lukas Sternath then performs Sergei Rachmaninoff’s rarely heard Piano Concerto No. 4, presented in the composer’s 1941 revision, where virtuosity, modern clarity, and lyrical depth find a remarkable balance. After the interval, the orchestra explores the dramatic world of Rachmaninoff’s opera Aleko through a selection of orchestral scenes full of passion, contrast, and dance. The concert concludes with Ottorino Respighi’s brilliant orchestrations of Rachmaninoff’s Cinq Études-Tableaux, transforming the piano pieces into vivid symphonic landscapes.
Lucerne Festival 2026: Opening Concert with Riccardo Chailly
The Lucerne Festival launches its 2026 summer season with a program celebrating the breadth of American music. Riccardo Chailly and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra pair the vibrant sound world of George Gershwin with the early symphonic voice of Charles Ives. Gershwin’s Cuban Overture sets a spirited opening, alive with rhythmic drive and Caribbean color. Pianist Frank Dupree then brings his versatility to the Concerto in F major, where Gershwin seamlessly fuses the pulse of jazz with classical structure, culminating in a sparkling, high-energy finale. After the interval comes a shift in tone with Ives’s Symphony No. 1 in D minor, a work rooted in the late-Romantic tradition yet already hinting at the originality that would define his later music. Its lush orchestral writing and subtle surprises offer a compelling counterpart to Gershwin’s urban flair. Together, these works form an opening night that blends vitality, virtuosity, and the spirit of discovery—an ideal start to the Festival’s summer season.
Romeo and Juliet – A Ballet by Cathy Marston
In Cathy Marston’s reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s world-famous story, everything is turned on its head in a fraction of a second: from love to violence, from desire to loss. Marston defies expectations and tells the story without traditional props such as swords or poison; instead, poetic imagery, precise characterizations, and new perspectives take center stage. The stage design combines a multi-layered urban backdrop with deliberately placed visual accents. The costumes are by Australian costume designer David Fleischer. General Music Director Gianandrea Noseda conducts the Zurich Opera Orchestra through Sergei Prokofiev’s passionate score.
Tori Kelly plays Baloise Session
An evening that focuses on vocal precision and emotional depth. Tori Kelly is an American singer, songwriter and actress who has carved out a firm place for herself in the modern music scene thanks to her exceptional vocal control and her blend of pop, R&B, soul and gospel. She first attracted attention through self-published videos on YouTube, in which she covered well-known songs and quickly built up a growing online fanbase. She made her commercial breakthrough in 2015 with the album Unbreakable Smile, which includes, amongst others, the hit singles ‘Nobody Love’ and ‘Should’ve Been Us’. The album already showcased her stylistic versatility and her ability to combine emotional depth with catchy pop arrangements. Another important milestone was the gospel-influenced album Hiding Place, released in 2018, which earned her two Grammy Awards and underlined her strong roots in gospel music.
Amistat play Baloise Session
Amistat is Catalan for «friendship». Josef and Jan Prasil are twin brothers of Czech-Australian descent who were born in Germany and grew up in Italy. They started busking in 2014. All they needed was two acoustic guitars, their voices, songs written by themselves and places where people congregate. The brothers sing so brilliantly together that you can hardly tell where one voice ends and the other begins. Their lyrics revolve around family, loss, togetherness and the challenge of staying in touch with their circle of friends whilst on the road. Their EP «Colour in Life» was streamed more than five million times on Spotify alone in 2023. Amistat have played at the Sziget Festival, the Open Air Gampel, in clubs and on their own tours. «Everything in Between» is about those moments between setting out and arriving.
Imany plays Baloise Session
Imany was a high-jumper and a model in New York before starting to take her own voice really seriously. After returning to France, where she was born, she began writing her own songs. «The Shape of a Broken Heart» was released in 2011, and «You Will Never Know» achieved platinum status. In 2016 the remix of her song «Don’t Be So Shy» gained her worldwide recognition. On «Voodoo Cello», Imany put eight cellos centre stage and performed songs by Jacques Brel, Radiohead, Madonna and Ed Sheeran. In «Women Deserve Rage» she sings about hurt, healing, female rage and a love that is not romanticised. Paris, Martigues, New York and the Comoros, where she has her roots, all come together in this evening concert.
Picture This play Baloise Session
Picture This was formed in 2015 in Athy, a small town south-west of Dublin, Ireland. Singer Ryan Hennessy recorded «Take My Hand» in his bedroom on his iPhone and posted the video on Facebook. The video quickly became a hit and was soon being played on Irish radio. That’s how it can happen: a phone, a song, an open window to the prospects beyond. Hennessy founded a band with Jimmy Rainsford, Owen Cardiff and Cliff Deane. Their début album was released in 2017, rose to Number 1 on the Irish charts, and achieved triple platinum status. From concerts in pubs, they graduated to appearances in large concert halls and sold-out stadiums. Picture This released their fourth studio album, «Parked Car Conversations», in 2024. The title is fitting for the band. Their songs explore relationships, separation, long nights and conversations held at night in parked cars. Not a bad place, by the way, for truthtelling.
Brandy Clark plays Baloise Session
For singer-songwriter Brandy Clark, basketball used to be her whole life until she started writing songs. And she was so successful at it that it never occurred to her to take to the stage herself. Stars like Sheryl Crow and Reba McEntire took her songs and turned them into hits. In 2012, at the age of 37, Brandy Clark finally released her first album. It was, however, a limited success and she needed a second chance. Ten years later the breakthrough came with her self-titled album. Brandy Clark sings songs about America, about her own life and that of her contemporaries, setting them to the soundtrack of the USA: country music. With her warm voice she can tell her stories authentically, accompanied by her subtle guitar playing.