The earth is still going round and life goes on... For months now, the entire team at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival & Academy has been working tirelessly to prepare a 2021 programme that is both attractive and compatible with the situation. The Gstaad Menuhin Festival & Academy is proud to announce that its 65th edition will take place from July 16 to September 4, 2021, with London, the musical metropolis, as its theme. Menuhin's chosen homeland - the one in which his musical identity developed, where he came into contact with the two “giants” of English music, Elgar and Britten - is to be the focal point of the next music summer in Saanenland. An opportunity to span the entire spectrum of this music capital, from Dowland, Purcell and Handel to Elgar, Britten, Queen and the Beatles, as well as Thomas Adès (with a world premiere).
On the programme devised by Artistic Director Christoph Müller will be artists such as Daniel Hope (who will open the festivities with three colourful evenings), Julia Fischer, Thomas Hampson, The King's Singers, Khatia Buniatishvili (with Tchaikovsky), Isabelle Faust, Bertrand Chamayou, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Fazil Say, Hélène Grimaud and Maria João Pires.
The major orchestras will also be present, with two evenings in the company of Valery Gergiev and his orchestra from the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, two concerts by the Gstaad Festival Orchestra led by Jaap van Zweden (in masterpieces by Brahms, Dvořák and Elgar – the sublime Cello Concerto played by Sol Gabetta), Bellini's “I puritani” in concert version (with Domingo Hindoyan, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Lisette Oropesa and Javier Camerana in the title roles) and a closing concert by the City Light Symphony Orchestra dedicated to the timeless 007 and the most famous themes from his screen adventures.
While we are still overcoming the pandemic, the health of our audience, our artists and our team remains our top priority for the 2021 Festival. Taking advantage of the experience gained in implementing the protection concept for our 2020 Pop-up Festival, we are developing, in collaboration with health experts and the authorities, comprehensive protection measures for the summer of 2021. Please find the detailed precautionary measures on gstaadmenuhinfestivla.ch.