Where do musicians like to celebrate their birthday? On Lake Lucerne, of course. During the 2008-09 season, it was Bernard Haitink celebrated his 80th birthday at LUCERNE FESTIVAL by treating himself (and his audiences) to a Beethoven cycle with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE). Now it’s the turn of the COE, which marks its 30th anniversary by undertaking a grand new project: exclusively for LUCERNE FESTIVAL they are offering a seven-part series focused on Brahms– under the direction of Bernard Haitink, of course.

The Beethoven project already made it abundantly clear that the combination of Haitink and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe is, musically speaking, highly fruitful and exciting.  What was assumed to be quite familiar sounded extraordinarily fresh and was played with fine tone and a sprung rhythm that gave it an almost youthful exuberance. The COE, which was founded in 1981 by young musicians of the European Union Youth Orchestra,  with Claudio Abbado acting as a prominent champion, has from the start been intensively involved with the findings of historically informed performance practice. In the 2007-08 season, Bernard Haitink also took up these musical ideas – proof of how curious and open to new approaches he remains to this day. At the same time, this great Dutch conductor, who has lived beside Lake Lucerne for several years, can draw on the mastery he has accrued over the course of his long-standing experience. Brahms in particular has always been at the core of his repertoire, and Haitink has recorded the works of this Romantic composer numerous times. 

So the Brahms cycle promises to be just as insightful as his enthusiastically received homage to Beethoven. Haitink and the COE plan to perform all the symphonies and concertos in the coming three festivals, as well as the two early serenades, the Academic Festival Overture, the Haydn Variations, the Tragic Overture, and the German Requiem. It all begins on 22 and 25 November, with the two piano concertos naturally featured as part of LUCERNE FESTIVAL at the Piano: the highly dramatic First and the significantly more relaxed but no less virtuosic Second. Undertaking the formidable role of soloist will be Emanuel Ax, the American master pianist with Polish-Ukrainian roots. These works will put the entire range of his pianistic skills to the test and offer an opportunity to display his flawless technique and, above all, his interpretive sensibility.