Highlights 2020
64th Gstaad Menuhin Festival & Academy
17 July – 6 September 2020
«WIEN»
The ballet of the great European music capitals is pursued on the heights of Gstaad: after the Parisian frenzies, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival heads east in the summer of 2020 towards Vienna, capital of the waltz and temple of classicism, city of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, Schönberg… In short, a city that breathes music. Christoph Müller was keen to celebrate the full range of its fantastic heritage, from the Italian jewels dear to the imperial court of the Baroque period to the most modern and grating pages characteristic of the inimitable “Schmäh” – Viennese humor –, not to mention the great masters, Beethoven in particular, an absolute must in this 250th anniversary year, with over twenty concerts that are either completely or partly dedicated to him.
The Gstaad Menuhin Festival & Academy 2020 is...
A shower of stars:
tenor Jonas Kaufmann (starring in “Fidelio” under the direction of Jaap van Zweden), «Baroque popes» René Jacobs (launching into Beethoven's «Missa solemnis» two nights in a row) and Christophe Rousset (conducting his Talens Lyriques in Mozart's «The Magic Flute»), countertenor Philippe Jaroussky (accompanied by L'Arpeggiata), pianist Yuja Wang (back with violinist Leonidas Kavakos), actor Klaus Maria Brandauer (who will be reading texts by Beethoven and Wagner in a dialogue with Sebastian Knauer's piano), violinist Renaud Capuçon (in Beethoven's all too rare Romances under Sylvain Cambreling’s direction), not to mention the «Diabelli Variations» revisited by Mitsuko Uchida, the complete Bach Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin by Isabelle Faust, and the return of Sir Antonio Pappano at the head of his Académie Sainte-Cécile de Rome in Beethoven's Seventh.
Two operas in concert version:
Beethoven's «Fidelio» (with the GFO, Jaap van Zweden and Jonas Kaufmann as Florestan) and Mozart's «The Magic Flute» (by Christoph Rousset and his Talens Lyriques on historical instruments, with Sandrine Piau as Pamina).
The residence of clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer,
highlighted by unprecedented encounters with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, cellist Sol Gabetta, pianists Dejan Lazić and Sebastian Knauer, singer Bela Koreny (with a promising “Late Night” at the Grand Bellevue Gstaad!), the iconic Wiener Sängerknaben, as well as the budding conductors of the Gstaad Conducting Academy
High-flying recitals
in the region’s magnificent churches, with singers Elsa Dreisig, Brigitte Geller and Daniel Behle, pianists András Schiff, Grigory Sokolov, Christian Zacharias, Alexander Melnikov and Jeremy Menuhin, violinists Daniel Hope, Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Christel Lee, the Casals, Chiaroscuro, Carmina and Hagen Quartets.
Symphonic Evenings
under the Gstaad Festival Tent: Seong-Jin Cho in Rachmaninov's Second Concerto with Jaap van Zweden and the Gstaad Festival Orchestra; Daniel Lozakovich, Edgar Moreau and Sergei Babayan in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Vasily Petrenko and the London Royal Philharmonic; Jan Lisiecki in Chopin's Second Concerto under the direction of Sir Antonio Pappano; a Viennese operetta gala hosted by soprano Polina Pasztircsák, Johannes Wildner and his Wiener Johann Strauss Orchester.
The Gstaad Festival Orchestra
«house» orchestra which will see the return in 2020 of Jaap van Zweden, head of the prestigious New York Philharmonic since the 2018/19 season; it performs not only during the Festival but also on tour throughout Europe, and takes an active part in the Gstaad Conducting Academy (led by the same Jaap van Zweden assisted by Professor Johannes Schlaefli): www.gstaadfestivalorchestra.com
But also....
A dip into Early Music
with trumpeter Gábor Boldoczki (in a recital from the gallery of the new organ of the Saint-Nicolas church in Rougemont), recorder player Maurice Steger (who revisits the Viennese “Sturm und Drang” with the ensemble Il Pomo d'Oro), or harpsichord player Jean Rondeau (with Clementi, Fux and Beethoven).
A platform for young soloists:
six «Matinees for Young Stars» on Saturdays in the Gstaad chapel, soloists from the International Menuhin Music Academy (led for the first time this year by their new artistic director Renaud Capuçon), young prodigies from the London Menuhin School, laureates of the Kiefer-Hablitzel | Göhner Foundation.
Musical moments «outside the box»:
the “new face of Alpine music for woodwind” presented by the Federspiel Ensemble; the return of Norwegian trumpeter Tine Helseth and her all-brass and all-female tenThing Ensemble; the Vienna-Rio de Janeiro journey offered by star mandolin player Avi Avital and accordionist Ksenja Sidorova; the “Philharmonix” evening dedicated to the ageless Vienna Waltz, and also to… Queen (!); the great Mozart-themed breakdance show on the stage of the Gstaad Tent by Christoph Hagel and the DDC (ie: Dancefloor Destruction Crew).
Last but not least....
An academic offer
in constant expansion (Conducting, Piano, String, Voice, Baroque Academy / orchestra weeks for youngsters and amateurs), with its numerous masterclasses – with tutors such as Jaap van Zweden, Sir András Schiff (which this year, in collaboration with baritone Robert Holl, is offering a Schubert Lieder Masterclass for singers and pianists) Rainer Schmidt Ettore Causa, Ivan Monighetti, Silvana Bazzoni Bartoli or the Janoska Ensemble (offering a new workshop this year) – as well as public concerts under the label “L'Heure Bleue”: www.gstaadacademy.ch
A wide range of «discovery» programmes for children and families
under the «Gstaad Discovery» label: recreational introductions, tailor-made concerts, meetings with artists, backstage visits...
A streaming platform
named «Gstaad Digital Festival», which makes it possible to live or relive the Festival highlights throughout the year, with the added bonus of interviews of artists, reviews by specialists and novel backstage tours