Grüezi, Lucerne Festival! After a train journey with spectacular mountain views, we're really looking forward to a few balmy summer evenings on Lake Lucerne.
Stand on the right, walk on the left? With valuable Philharmonic luggage, this escalator rule can be relaxed under certain circumstances. | Picture: Stephan Rabold
The dress code on the train journey: definitely business casual. | Picture: Stephan Rabold
If you look very closely, you can see Heidi waving in the distance. | Picture: Stephan Rabold
At a height of 21 metres, the roof of the Lucerne Culture and Convention Centre (KKL for short) juts out over Lake Lucerne. | Picture: Stephan Rabold
The Chapel Bridge is the oldest wooden bridge in Europe. It was built around 1365 ... | Picture: Stephan Rabold
... and is still a landmark of the city and an extremely popular photographic subject. | Picture: Stephan Rabold
Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony is also the first work on the programme in Lucerne. It is a masterpiece hewn from vast blocks of sound - with the most delicate melodies and nuances. In the inimitable acoustics of the KKL, the Berliner Philharmoniker and Kirill Petrenko presented their take on this symphonic pinnacle.
Wednesday, 28 August 2024
Cellist Uladzimir Sinkevich in a moment of intense concentration during the rehearsal for the evening concert. | Picture: Stephan Rabold
In each hall, the orchestra has to adjust its sound to the new acoustic. | Picture: Stephan Rabold
Shortly before the concert, Stefan Dohr warms up for the demanding solo parts in Bruckner's Fifth Symphony. | Picture: Stephan Rabold
Solo trumpeter David Guerrier also has some challenging passages to tackle. | Picture: Stephan Rabold
Chief conductor Kirill Petrenko and his orchestra ascend Bruckner's musical mountain of sound. | Picture: Stephan Rabold
At the end there is a standing ovation for this feat of musical mountaineering. | Picture: Stephan Rabold
After the dizzying peaks of Bruckner’s Fifth, the second evening at the KKL Lucerne is no less scenic: Bedřich Smetana’s The Moldau sends the Vltava river flowing through the concert hall. Not - as is so often the case - performed as a single movement, but rather as one part of the entire cycle Ma Vlast (My Fatherland). If you’d like to know more about it, we have put together 7 key facts for you.
