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Page 04 New York Philharmonic European Tour | Page 08 The Maestros of the Baton Maazel, Zinman, Janowski,

Gilbert, Järvi | Page 12 Summer Festivals Lucerne and Davos | Page 14 Promoting Talent Antoine Tamestit |

Page 16 Salzburg Festival For Love Is as Strong as Death | Page 19 Bolshoi Theatre Opera Premiere in October

Classical Music

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«When there is no breeze blowing,the trees don’t stir.»Chinese proverb

The SYMPHASIS charitable foundation offers you the opportunity to become a donor and support social welfare, environmental, cultural, and sports projects according to your personal preference. You too can make a difference.

We are pleased to be of assistance and look forward to hearing from you:SYMPHASIS charitable foundation, Schanzeneggstrasse 3, CH – 8070 ZurichPhone +41 44 332 14 45, Fax +41 44 332 14 46, www.symphasis.ch, info@symphasis.ch

SYMPHASIS is supported by Credit Suisse

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About the Cover “The Magic Flute” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was one of the most successful productions at the 2006 Salzburg Festival. This year’s production will premiere on August 13. Pictured: Tamino (Paul Groves, 2006; Michael Schade will take on the role in 2008) and Pamina (Genia Kühmeier, 2006 and 2008), together with the Concert Association of the Vienna State Opera Chorus (p.16).

Credit Suisse Bulletin plus | Classical Music | 03

Summer Encounters

Zurich’s Tonhalle Orchestra, of which Credit Suisse has been the main sponsor since 1986, has issued a brochure in which it introduces the members of the orchestra, giving each and every one of them a distinctive profile. On leafing through the pages I was astonished to see who played first violin in this distinguished orchestra. In fact, this section comprises musicians from 10 different countries, with Japanese players outnumbering Swiss. Music went international long before the economy went global. A top-class orchestra has no alternative but to comb the world for the best players and gain their loyalty. And, conversely, the opportunity to play in an orchestra abroad is one that any musician would want to grasp.

Credit Suisse, which is currently active in over 50 countries, also endeavors to find – and retain – the best talents from all over the world. Not surprisingly, our employees come from more than 100 countries. The resulting encounters with different cultures are a gain for us all, both at work and in our free time.

I have classical music to thank for many stimulating experiences with guests and customers of our bank. We don’t go to a concert or a challenging opera production because it is “the right thing to do” but because we love the music and the world it stands for. And this in turn provides a starting point for interesting discussions during the interval or after the performance.

At the Haus für Mozart in Salzburg, Credit Suisse organizes very special “summer encounters” at which it conducts background discussions for journalists with the people involved in the production of an opera. The focus this year will be on the opera “Rusalka.” When I hosted the event last year, we talked about “Benvenuto Cellini.” That encounter – and those at receptions with customers – showed me how approach-able many artists are and how unique the discussions with them are.

Credit Suisse is proud of having forged partnerships in the world of music that are really worthy of the name. I’m thinking, for instance, of the Salzburg Festival, the New York Philharmonic and the Bolshoi Theatre, as well as of the Zurich Opera, the Lucerne Festival, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Basel Chamber Orchestra. Music is indeed able to break down barriers and open up new worlds.

Editorial by Walter B. Kielholz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Credit Suisse

04  |  Credit Suisse Bulletin plus  |  Classical Music

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“I am really looking forward to the forth­coming European tour. It’s the fourth that I’ll have done with the New York Phil­harmonic,” explains music director Lorin Maazel (p. 8). “This is my seventh and final season as music director of an or­chestra that I’ve conducted in so many memorable concerts at home and abroad. So the orchestra and I would like to recall the musical legacy of Ar­turo Toscanini, who also directed the en­semble for seven years and took it on its first European tour.”

Arturo Toscanini has gone down in music history as “the most ideal repre­sentative of objectivity” on account of his implacable fidelity to the notes. A native of Italy, who had begun his fabulous career at La Scala in Milan, he worked at the Metropolitan Opera before World War I.

He returned to America again, from 1928 to 1936, in order to head the New York Philharmonic. As it happens, in the same year that Lorin Maazel was born near Paris, in 1930, Toscanini was enjoy­ing immense success on the orchestra’s first tour to Europe.

Going Back to the Roots

This year’s tour takes the orchestra to the birthplace of the symphonic tradition. Its program covers a broad repertoire, such as Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” Bartók’s “Miraculous Mandarin,” the Eighth Sym­phony of Bruckner and Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony.

The New York Philharmonic is well ­known for its delight in playing modern

American “Rhapsodies” at  the Birthplace of the SymphonyAfter the New York Philharmonic’s successful Asian tour at the start of the year, there follows a highly anticipated European tour from August 28 to September 12, with 14 concerts in nine cities. Credit Suisse is supporting the New York Philharmonic as global sponsor.

music too – even world premieres, where possible. If you leaf through the history book of this orchestra – the oldest in the New World – you will find, for example, the world premiere in 1893 of Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony in E minor, “From the New World.”

Maazel himself has already conducted seven world premieres that were com­missioned by the orchestra, most notably “On the Transmigration of Souls” ( 2002) by John Adams, which was awarded both the Pulitzer Prize and three Gram­my Awards, and also Stephen Hartke’s Symphony No. 3 (2003) and Melinda Wagner’s Trombone Concerto ( 2007).

World Premiere With Steven Stucky

On this European tour, the world pre­miere of Steven Stucky’s “Rhapsodies for Orchestra” also represents an absolute highlight. The work will be played three times: in Paris and in Lucerne, but first of all in London, at the BBC Proms. The last time that the New York Philharmon­ic played in the English capital was in 2000, under the baton of its then music director Kurt Masur.

It is in fact 12 years since the orches­tra played at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall. This is reason enough for jointly commissioning the American com­poser Steven Stucky. A teacher of com­position at Cornell University in New York State, Stucky is also often active as a composer in California.

His First Concerto for Orchestra came second in the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1989, and in 2005 he won this coveted

award with his Second Concerto for Orchestra. Lorin Maazel admits to being “really enthusiastic about the new com­mission.” So we have something to look forward to.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet as Soloist

On its European tour last year, the or­chestra was accompanied by violinist Julia Fischer, who is now playing as artist­in­residence with the Zurich Ton­halle Orchestra. For Asia 2008, besides the orchestra’s own soloist members Glenn Dicterow (violin), Philip Myers (horn) and Liang Wang (oboe), they were able to engage the cellist Alisa Wei­lerstein. For this new tour, the New York Philharmonic decided on the pianist Jean­Yves Thibaudet.

This musician has recorded both the whole oeuvres of Eric Satie and Claude Debussy for Decca, as well as works by Duke Ellington. He has become known to a wider public not least on account of his participation in various film sound­tracks. In 2001, the 47­year­old French­man was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

In the summer of 2006, he performed with the New York Philharmonic at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, playing Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major under the baton of Marin Alsop. On the present European tour, Jean­Yves Thibaudet will be performing George Gershwin’s Con­certo in F for Piano and Orchestra.

Guest Performer at European Festivals

Besides the BBC Proms in London, the Philharmonic will be appearing at other classical festivals too, such as the Rheingau Music Festival in Frankfurt, the Schleswig­Holstein Music Festival in Hamburg, the Beethovenfest in Bonn and also, for three days, the Lucerne Festival. The orchestra has already played in central Switzerland in 2005, on the oc­casion of the 75th anniversary of its first European tour.

In total, the New York Philharmonic will visit nine cities. Besides those

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Credit Suisse Bulletin plus  |  Classical Music  |  05

Impressions by Chris Lee of the Asia tour of the New York Philharmonic in February 2008  1  Taipei, February 12, 7:35 p.m.: Bass player Satoshi  Okamoto has found a quiet spot to warm up.  2  Beijing, February 23, 5:45 p.m.: Violist Kenneth Mirkin (far right) wants to have a look at the  new Beijing Center for Performing Arts, together with his wife Lyn (second from right) and his parents-in-law.  3  Beijing, February 24, 7:50 p.m.:  The New York Philharmonic plays Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 under Lorin Maazel. 4 Kaohsiung, February 13, 9:25 p.m.: Lorin Maazel rewards  the enthusiastic applause at the end of the concert by offering an encore: Brahms’s Hungarian Dance No. 1 in G minor. 5 Hong Kong, February 17, 2:35 p.m.: A favorite specialty of the orchestra is always the Young People’s Concert. Here some of the orchestra’s members play for children  and young people, and answer their questions before the concert proper: Associate Principal Bass Jon Deak (standing) and (from left) violinist  Mei Ching Huang, Associate Principal Clarinet Mark Nuccio, and cellist Ru-Pei Yeh.

06  |  Credit Suisse Bulletin plus  |  Classical Music

New York Philharmonic  Tour of Europe 2008 Lorin Maazel – A Grand Finale

August 28–29 London, Royal Albert Hall

August 30 Frankfurt, Alte Oper

August 31 Hamburg, Musikhalle

September 2–4 Lucerne, KKL

September 5–6 Essen, Philharmonie

September 8–9 Paris, Salle Pleyel

September 10 Stuttgart, Liederhalle

September 11 Baden-Baden, Festspielhaus

September 12 Bonn, Beethovenhalle

www.nyphil.org  www.maestromaazel.com  www.stevenstucky.com  www.credit-suisse.com/sponsoring

already mentioned, these include Essen, Baden­Baden and Stuttgart. The people of Stuttgart have been waiting for another concert since 1985 – back then, it was still Zubin Mehta who was in charge of the orchestra.

Mehta’s brother Zarin has been exec­utive director of the New York Philhar­monic since 2000, and its president since 2004. Not without a note of regret, Zarin Mehta points out that it’s getting time to say farewell to Maazel: “As we approach Lorin’s last season as music director, I’m looking forward to accom­panying the musicians on his final inter­national tour with them to the most im­portant European festivals. It will be a bit tersweet experience.”

Alan Gilbert Designated as Successor

In the 2009/2010 season, Alan Gilbert (p. 10) will take over the baton at the New York Philharmonic. He will be 42 when he begins his job as the 26th music director since the orchestra was founded in 1842. It was exactly 50 years ago that Leonard Bernstein took on the directorship of the New York Philharmonic, and as he would have celebrated his 90th bir thday this year, the orchestra, in collaboration with Carnegie Hall, is devoting a special fes­tival to him, entitled “The Best of all Possible Worlds” (p. 7).

Quite in contrast to Toscanini, Leon­ard Bernstein was a fervent admirer of Gustav Mahler, who was the orchestra’s 10th music director from 1909 to 1911. Bernstein twice recorded Mahler’s com­plete symphonies, some with the New York Philharmonic. Also of interest is the 12­CD set “The Mahler Broadcasts 1948 –1982,” which the orchestra offers on its website. It features recordings of various conductors, including Pierre Boulez (mu­sic director 1971–77) and Zubin Mehta (music director 1978–91).

After Mehta, Kurt Masur (1991–2002) enjoyed great success with the New York Philharmonic before passing on the music director’s baton to Lorin Maazel.

Along on Tour, Virtually

Experience has shown that the concerts of the New York Philharmonic are sold out barely after having been announced. It’s precisely for this reason that the mu­sicians set great store by the most mod­ern forms of communication. As usual, the orchestra will begin its real tour at the same time as it starts a virtual tour.

The latter can be experienced from Thursday, August 28, 2008 onwards, at the orchestra’s website: www.nyphil.org/europe2008. It includes detailed infor­mation about the works to be played, and also an online photo album by the orches­tra’s photographer Chris Lee, which will be kept up to date during the tour. Credit Suisse will offer further information and pictures. Andreas Schiendorfer

Credit Suisse Bulletin plus  | Classical Music  |  07

“Le Nozze di Figaro” on  the Côte d’Azur

The Les Azuriales opera festival takes place from August 15 to 28 at the pictur­esque Cap Ferrat on the Côte d’Azur. As tradition demands, the program is provid­ed by the British opera company “Diva Opera” under the direction of Bryan Evans, with each work given in the original lan­guage. This year, in the magnificent Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild (picture), festival director Sarah Holford will offer her visi­tors a solo concert and the operas “La Belle Hélène” (Offenbach), “Hänsel und Gretel” (Humperdinck), “Partenope” (Han­del ), and “Le nozze di Figaro” (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ). Credit Suisse Monaco, the main sponsor of Les Azuriales for the last 10 years, is offering special support this year to the Mozart opera, with Mat­thew Hargreaves as Figaro and Catriona Clark as Susanna.www.azurialopera.com www.divaopera.com

Castle Concerts in Germany

Credit Suisse Germany is primarily sup­porting the Salzburg Festival (p. 16), and is enabling performances by the New York Philharmonic in six German cities (p. 4). It is also sponsoring Tabea Zimmer­mann’s concert in Schloss Belvedere in Weimar on September 13. Zimmermann

News From the World of Music

is the artist in residence at Weimar’s in­terdisciplinary arts festival “pèlerinages.” At the Rheingau Music Festival, Credit Suisse is supporting a song recital by the soprano Diana Damrau in Schloss Jo­hannisberg in Geisenheim on August 29. The Rheingau Music Prize for 2008 is incidentally being awarded to the Swiss oboist and composer Heinz Holliger, the prize winner at the 2007 Zurich Festival.www.rheingau-musik-festival.de www.kunstfest-weimar.de

Bernstein: The Best of  All Possible Worlds

The Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic are organizing 30 events in honor of Leonard Bernstein. This con­ductor would have been 90 years old on August 25. Fifty years ago, he was the first American to be appointed music director of the Philharmonic. Bernstein, who was named “Laureate Conductor for Life” in 1969, had already come to the orchestra in 1943 as an assistant con­ductor under Arthur Rodzinsky.

The New York Philharmonic will give eight concerts: on September 25, 26 and 27 with the conductor Lorin Maazel (p. 8), on October 18 with Delta David Gier in a Young People’s Concert, then on October 30 and 31 and November 1 under the baton of David Robertson, and on November 15 under Alan Gilbert (p. 10). Gilbert will also conduct the Juil­liard Orchestra on November 25. At the Salzburg Festival on August 23, the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Ven­ezuela and the Venezuelan Brass En­semble will play selections from “West Side Story.”www.carnegiehall.org www.leonardbernstein.com 

Committed to Music in Asia

For 10 years now, Credit Suisse has also been supporting classical music in Asia. The beginnings lay in a partnership with the Beijing Music Festival, which lasts from mid­October to mid­November every year, and encompasses some 30 performances. The Festival features a “Night of Credit Suisse” as well as a Credit Suisse Children’s Concert. In 2006, a partnership was formed with the Canton International Summer Music Academy (CISMA) under the direction of Charles Dutoit and Long Yu. Finally, in late December 2007, Credit Suisse be­gan sponsoring the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra. This respected orchestra is under the patronage of the Thai Crown Prince, Maha Vajiralongkorn. Together with Credit Suisse, the orchestra will put on 12 concerts by the end of 2008, with a closing piano recital by Lang Lang on December 11.www.bmf.org.cn, www.csma.org.cn www.bangkoksymphony.net

Carmen in Moscow

The Bolshoi Theatre (p. 19) at present has some two dozen operas in its reper­toire. The last premiere took place on April 22, with Bizet’s “Carmen.” The orchestra was conducted by Yuri Temir­kanov, the director was David Pountney (also director of the Bregenz Festival), and the title role was held by the young Bulgarian Nadia Krasteva. The work had six successful performances, and will be played again on November 20, 21, 22 and 23. Tchaikovsky’s “Pique Dame” will also be performed again, on Decem­ber 24 and 25, but then under the baton of Mikhail Pletnev. schi

www.bolshoi.ru

08  |  Credit Suisse Bulletin plus  |  Classical Music 

At the Salzburg Festival on August 15 (p. 16 ), Riccardo Muti (born 1941) will conduct the German Requiem op. 45 by Johannes Brahms in memory of Herbert von Karajan (1908 –1989). Twenty years earlier, it was with this work that Karajan gave his last performance in the Grosses Festspielhaus.

This superb conductor, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday on April 5 this year, gave well over 400 con-certs in Salzburg alone. In 1956, he was appointed artistic director of the Salz-burg Festival, a position he held for sev-eral years. He was also a member of the Board of the Festival from 1964 to 1988. Equally to his credit are the Salzburg Easter Festival and the Whitsun Festival, which have gained further dynamic flair under Muti.

The Karajan 2008 Anniversary Tour

Herbert von Karajan understood, like no one else, how to meld glamour, market-ing and cutting-edge technology with culture. “If you’ve reached all your goals, then you’ve probably set them too low” was his motto in the quest for the perfect sound. Along the way, he marked many a milestone, even if some critics accused him of lacking emotional depth. In this centenary year, the “Karajan 2008 Anni-versary Tour ” of the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras is particularly worthy of note. Furthermore, the “Sie-mens Festival Nights” offer film presen-tations of operas and concerts during the Salzburg Festival.

Lorin Maazel (born 1930) seems to bristle with self-confidence. In an inter-

Maestros of the Baton“A bad singer,” said Hector Berlioz, “can only ruin his own part. But an incompetent, malicious conductor can ruin everything.” A brief investigation into the secrets of the great conductors, Lorin Maazel, David Zinman, Marek Janowski and Alan Gilbert, beginning with Herbert von Karajan.

view for Classic Today (Klassik heute) some 10 years ago, however, he ex-plained that he had had to overcome enormous inhibitions, both as a compos-er and a conductor. “I was so impressed by the great masters that it completely intimidated me with my modest abilities. I said to myself: ‘I am so far beneath them, there’s no point in writing anything in their company,’ which was naturally not so. It’s all well and good to honor the masters, but there is also a veiled arro-gance to comparing yourself with one of the greats. When it comes down to it, you just have to do what you’re com-pelled to do.”

A Man With No Inhibitions

Maazel’s inhibitions as a composer were dispelled by Mstislav Leopoldovich Rost-ropovich (1927–2007) – and rightly so, when we think of his opera “1984” (after George Orwell), which premiered in 2005. And his inhibitions as a conductor were quickly quashed by Victor de Sabata (1892–1967), who said: “You’ve got to carry on. It’s up to others to judge you.”

As a child at age 5, Maazel began taking piano and violin lessons. Later, he was a violinist in the Pittsburgh Orches-tra, and still on occasion appears today as a violinist. The talented Maazel was only nine years old when he first stood on the podium to conduct the Los Ange-les Philharmonic Orchestra. And at the young age of 12, he made his conducting debut with the New York Philharmonic.

By the time he took up the post as its music director in September 2002, Maazel had already conducted more than

100 guest performances. During the course of his long career, Maazel has conducted more than 150 different or-chestras and more than 5,000 opera and concer t performances. Fur thermore, some 300 recordings have been released under his name. In 2001, Maazel was able to conduct his 100th performance at the Salzburg Festival. In 2005, he con-ducted the New Year’s Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic for the 10th time.

Maazel’s ability to deal with the most difficult scores is widely admired, as is his virtuoso conducting. Everything seems to come easy to him. What is his recipe for success? “I don’t conduct anything that I don’t love.”

Zinman – A Sabbatical Brings New Vigor

“Zinman is a versatile artist who could be on the verge of a significant late career,” writes Wolfgang Schreiber in his stan-dard work “Great Conductors.” Perhaps he too was one of those who for a long time gave too lit tle attention to the development of David Zinman (born 1936). After studying with Pierre Mon-teux at the London Symphony Orchestra, Zinman was appointed the conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra in Amsterdam at the age of only 28, and stayed with them for 13 years. His ten-ures with the Rochester Philharmonic (1974– 85) and the Philadelphia Orches-tra (1985 – 98) were also long. Zinman has been music director of the Aspen Music Festival since 1998 and chief conductor of the Zurich Tonhalle Orches-tra since 1995.

Last season, he allowed himself a sabbatical on the edge of the Californian desert, alone with his wife and their cat. “I didn’t miss the concert hall, just ex-changing ideas with other people,” he says of it. “Every afternoon I played golf, and that way I tanked up new energy.” In the mornings he read, worked on his au-tobiography, and used the opportunity to study new works without being under any pressure. His attention was focused not least on Gustav Mahler, whose 10 sym-

Credit Suisse Bulletin plus  |  Classical Music  |  09

phonies Zinman has been preparing with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, one by one, and which he has been recording for CD (p. 11). Already in Rochester and Philadelphia, Zinman had busied himself intensively with Mahler’s symphonies. He got to know them in the 1940s, when Bruno Walter (1876 –1972) conducted the New York Philharmonic.

Later, he was able to observe the re-hearsals of one of the important Mahler prophets, Dimitri Mitropoulos (1896 –1960), also with the New York Philhar-

monic. He experienced the different approaches taken by his colleagues, but still finally found his own window into the works. He finds Bruno Walter too ac-commodating, Leonard Bernstein (1918 –1990) too personal, Otto Klemperer (1885 –1973) too dogged.

He is impressed most of all by the pre-cision of how Georg Szell (1897–1970) interpreted Mahler’s scores. Transpar-ency and a balance of sound are the decisive criteria as far as Zinman is con-cerned. As a conductor, he says, it is his

task not to overemphasize Mahler’s emo-tional excesses. Prizes such as the re-cent Midem Classical Award of 2007 for Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (with Chris-tian Tezlaff ) and the Midem Classical Award “Artist of the Year 2008” (for his whole works) show that he is on the right path.

Janowski: “Haydn Does Everyone Good”

In 2008, Marek Janowski (born 1939) celebrated the 90th anniversary of the founding of his Orchestre de la >

Top left  Lorin Maazel has directed the New York Philharmonic since 2002.  Top right  After a sabbatical, David Zinman  is back again in Zurich with his Tonhalle Orchestra.  Bottom left  Marek Janowski celebrates the 90th anniversary of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.  Bottom right  Alan Gilbert personifies the new generation of conductors.

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Suisse Romande, which he has directed successfully for three years, alongside his work with the Radio Symphony Or-chestra of Berlin. Will his 70th birthday also offer an opportunity to put him in the public spotlight ? “To be honest, I don’t think much of even-numbered birthdays,” says Marek Janowski of it. “I barely celebrated my 50th and 60th birthdays, but of course, at such times you think about your life.” It is pure chance that a biography of him is ap-pearing right now.

Janowski has worked his way up methodically. “Sadly, I believe that the old method has now almost disappeared, whereby you learnt the whole spectrum of conducting techniques step by step. I think many a young conductor today has too little technical knowledge, simply because he has landed important posi-tions at an early age.”

Of the “jubilee composers,” he assigns special value to Joseph Haydn, who died in Vienna in May 1809. This is because Haydn’s precise requirements of every orchestra make him especially signifi-cant. “Every orchestra ought to include Haydn in its program every few years,” he says, to put everything back into proper perspective. “The most important thing in music is to first establish the element of vertical precision. Only after that comes the artistic aspect, the inspira-tional work. But vertical precision means a perfectly balanced sound, between brass, woodwind and strings. This is a matter of reading the score cleanly.”

Gilbert: Young Turks on the Rise

“Conducting is a life-long process, and in musical terms we conductors perhaps only become interesting at age 60,” Sir Simon Rattle (born 1955) told the Swiss magazine, NZZ Folio, in 1992. Rattle took over the Berlin Philharmonic in 1999.

One of the most demanding tasks is to orchestrate the transition from one generation of conductors to the next in good time. The Los Angeles Philharmon-ic has taken a radical step by appoint-

ing the Venezuelan Gustavo Dudamel (p. 18), born in 1981, as its chief con-ductor as of the 2009/10 season. The New York Philharmonic has also made a forward- looking choice by appointing Alan Gilbert (born 1967) to begin with them at the same time.

A Life With the Philharmonic

Gilbert grew up with the New York Phil-harmonic. His mother is a violinist with it, as was his father until 2001. While calls to find a young American conductor were mounting, this new task did not just fall into Alan Gilbert’s lap. “Every conductor dreams of directing a big orchestra one day, but I never dared to dream of the New York Philharmonic,” he confesses.

Even so, he has performed with the orchestra as guest conductor over 30 times since 2001, to everyone’s satis-faction. For one of Gilbert’s strengths is creating a good atmosphere. He is less of a strict boss looming over the orches-tra than a primus inter pares, someone who leads a group of equals in which everyone has to work together and har-

monize in order to achieve a good result. Gilbert’s most recent conducting en-gagements were with the Royal Stock-holm Philharmonic Orchestra (2000 –08), the Santa Fe Opera (2003 – 06) and as first guest conductor with the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Germany (since 2004).

Gilbert looks forward to working with the Philharmonic. “The real challenge lies in combining the different works in an insightful, unconventional manner,” says the conductor. “The New York Phil-harmonic is such a fabulous orchestra that it can really play everything.”

This ultimately bears out the truism that no music emanates from the conductor’s baton. Even the best conductor needs an orchestra to match. Andreas Schiendorfer

A Musician Among Musicians

When the kammerorchesterbasel appointed Kristjan Järvi (born 1972) as its artistic advisor in 2007, it took on one of the most sought-after conductors.

The New York Times praised him as a “Leonard Bernstein  reborn” and acclaimed his “effervescent stage presence.”  But Järvi does not see himself as a “magician of the podium,” rather as a “musician among musicians.”

This 35-year-old scion of an Estonian musical dynasty enjoys defying conventions. He works within a broad repertoire  of compositions, from the 17th century to the present day.  His Absolute Ensemble, founded in 1993, does not restrict  itself to classical titles, but also explores jazz, rock, world  music, and electronics. 

Daniel Schnyder, the Swiss composer and saxophonist, says of Kristjan Järvi: “With his overview of things, he shows the path forward that music has to take today. He is the prototype of the young conductor who is open to all styles.”  mk

www.maestromaazel.com  www.davidzinman.org  www.kristjanjarvi.com

Credit Suisse Bulletin plus  | Classical Music  |  11

A Golden Rose for the Zurich Opera House

On March 1, 2007, Swiss TV broadcast a program entitled “The Magic Flute – Behind  the  Scenes  and  Front  of Stage.” It featured a live performance of Mozart’s opera, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, while the other public channel simultaneously offered a look behind the scenes. The project has now been awarded a Golden Rose at the Rose d’Or Festival. During Euro 2008, the premiere of “Carmen” on June 28 was beamed live to the public viewing arena for 12,000 spectators.

Whoever missed the performance un-der Franz Welser-Möst, with Vesselina Kasarova as Carmen, will have further opportunities to see it when its new run begins on November 14. The opera house will be just as innovative in the coming season. On Tuesday, September 30, the TV project “La Traviata” will be performed at Zurich’s main railway sta-tion, and broadcast at 8 p.m. on SF1 in the program “Klanghotel live.”

Credit Suisse is giving special support to the operas “Lucia di Lammermoor” by Gaetano Donizetti (conducted by Nello Santi; premiere on September 14) and Mozart’s “Così fan tutte” (conducted by Franz Welser-Möst; premiere on June 28, 2009). The latter will take place as part of the Zurich Festival, just like “Car-men” this year. Credit Suisse has been a main sponsor of the Opera House since 1989. And since 2006, it has also been a partner of its Orchestra Academy.www.opernhaus.ch

News From the World of Music

Gustav Mahler in Words  and Pictures

Composer Gustav Mahler died in Vienna on May 18, 1911. Right on time for his anniversary, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zu-rich under David Zinman (p. 8) will con-clude its cycle of recording Mahler’s 10 symphonies. The first six are already available on the classical label RCA Red Seal. Mahler’s Seventh is the next in line, which will be given first in concert on September 17/18/19, then recorded for CD. The gigantic Eighth, the “Symphony of a Thousand,” will be performed on February 25 and 26, 2009, in the Lu-cerne Culture and Convention Center.

The First Symphony is also to be per-formed – on October 1 and 2 in Zurich, then from October 4 to 9 in Luxembourg, Paris, Eindhoven, Amsterdam and Ha-nover. “Going against Fate” is the title of a documentary film that will be appearing this fall on DVD. Its director Viviane Blu-menschein followed the recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 from the first rehearsal to the recording studio. This offers an exciting view of the orchestra, of which Credit Suisse has been a part-ner since 1986.www.tonhalle-orchester.ch

Hilary Hahn With the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) was conducted by Ernest Anser-met for some 50 years. Later, Wolfgang Sawallisch (1970 –80) and Armin Jordan (1985 – 97) left their marks. Since 2005, the OSR has played under the baton of Marek Janowski (p. 9). Credit Suisse has been the orchestra’s main sponsor since 1991. Its 90th anniversary is to be cele-brated with the Série Credit Suisse, en-compassing five violin concertos: After Julia Fischer, Yossif Ivanov and Renaud Capuçon, Hilary Hahn will be the orches-tra’s guest in the Victoria Hall in Geneva (on September 4), followed by Arabella Steinbacher (on December 5). On Decem-ber 18, the Série Mosaïque will then pay homage to Django Reinhardt.www.osr.ch

The Berlin Philharmonic at  the Zermatt Festival

Besides the classical festivals of Aven-ches, St. Gallen, Solothurn, Davos and Lucerne (p. 12), Credit Suisse also sup-ports the Zermatt Festival since 2005. Between September 5 and 21, at the same venue where Pablo Casals once gave proof of his genius, chamber musi-cians from the Berlin Philharmonic will be playing for the fourth year. They will be joined by the Scharoun Ensemble from Berlin, the Orchestre de Chambre de Lau-sanne and the Zermatt Festival Chamber Orchestra. On February 20, 2009, the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rat-tle will give a guest concert in the Zurich Tonhalle. The next day, the seven “Swiss Philharmonic Musicians from Berlin” will give a chamber music concert. schi

www.zermattfestival.net

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The Lucerne Festival aims to present the best orchestras in one of the world’s greatest concert halls, says the festival’s Artistic and Executive Director Michael Haefliger. “The emphasis is on concert music, specifically on orchestral music, contrarily to the Salzburg Festival which focuses on opera. The appeal of the Lu-cerne Festival is that the public can, over a five-and-half-week period, compare and get a feeling for the best orchestral music right now at a one location.”

Some 32 symphony concerts are scheduled for the festival’s 2008 sum-mer edition with the New York Philhar-monic and the Vienna Philharmonic among the orchestras invited. The Lu-cerne Festival Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Abbado, is another highlight. “The most important orchestras and con-ductors have been coming to the Lucerne Festival on a regular basis since its creation by the Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini back in 1938,” Haefliger under-lines. Over the years, recitals, chamber music concerts and a concert series named Debut, to promote young artists, have been added to the program.

Dance Music in the Spotlight

“The relationship between dance and music is extremely close. Movement or dance has accompanied music ever since its origin, and also greatly stimu-lated its development – that’s why dance music was chosen as theme for the fes-tival’s 2008 summer edition,” Haefliger explains. Baroque music was, for in-stance, originally composed as dance

A Summer of Festivals in Lucerne and DavosThis year’s Lucerne Festival in Summer, one of the oldest classical music festivals, will focus on “dance music” during the more than 100 events scheduled. At the Davos Festival, a chamber music festival for young musicians, equinox is the theme of choice.

music, with the people of the time danc-ing to the baroque suites composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and Jean-Baptiste Lully.

“Today we have lost this music’s dance dimension and consider baroque music as an integral part of the classical music repertoire,” Haefliger notes. To explore the dance music theme further, there will also be an emphasis on the classic mas-terpieces composed for Serge Diaghi-lev’s ballet company The Ballets Russes. Igor Stravinsky, Maurice Ravel and Ser-gei Prokofiev were among the numerous composers who wrote works for this ex-ceptional ballet company. “These works have over time turned into concert works. We won’t choreograph them at the Lu-cerne Festival, but will present them in their context,” Haefliger adds.

Besides the many pieces of music devoted to dance and ballet, chore-ographer and stage director Joachim Schloemer will present two world pre-mieres at the festival, based on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach’s six cello suites and that of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera “Die Entführung aus dem Serail.” George Benjamin, this edition’s composer-in-residence, will write a new work for the piano which will have its world premiere on August 30 with Pierre-Laurent Aimard as soloist.

Vienna Philharmonic Concert

One of the highlights of the festival will be the performance of the Vienna Phil-harmonic with its conductor Riccardo Muti on September 8. During the first

part of the concert, the winner of the 2008 Credit Suisse Young Artist Award, the violist Antoine Tamestit, will as part of this prize perform Béla Bartók’s viola concert. “The concert will play an impor-tant role in promoting the viola as solo instrument. Tamestit is a very capable musician, sensitive to the viola repertoire of all musical epochs,” says Haefliger, who sat in the five -man jury granting the award. “In addition to a recital, he also had to give an insight on his views on the role of music in society to the jury and managed to convince us. Antoine Tamestit represents the type of open-minded and modern artists we want to reward.” (More about Tamestit on pages 14 –15.) The second part of the concert will be devoted to Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 2 in C minor, a piece dis-missed as unplayable when first per-formed in 1872.

Long-Term Planning Required

The planning for this year’s festival began already three years ago. “The Lucerne Festival has a very strong position, so the main difficulty is not to attract or-chestras or soloists. The main challenge is to create an interesting and varied program appealing to the public,” Hae-fliger stresses.

About 85 percent of the public attending the performances are Swiss, with the remainder mainly coming from Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. “The public is not exactly young, with the average age being around 50. We try to draw a younger audience through events like late night concerts starting at 10 p. m. and an open-air street music festival held across town,” Haefliger adds. He does nevertheless not need to worry about poor attendance figures. More than 100,000 people came to listen to last year’s summer edition, with a book-ing rate reaching 94 percent. “It’s the tradition and the quality of the festival that draws the public. Innovative projects have to a certain degree also strength-ened its identity.”

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Davos Festival for Young Artists

Before becoming the Lucerne Festival’s artistic and executive director back in 1999, Haefliger founded the Davos Fes-tival in 1986. “I had just graduated and wanted to create a platform for young artists, where they could meet other musicians and make chamber music together,” Haefliger recalls. The two-week long Davos Festival starts on July 26 with a focus on the theme equinox, the two days a year when day and night are of equal length.

“The music performed at the 23rd edi-tion of the Davos Festival will have con-nections to the night or to the world of dreams but also to the oscillation of lights and colors in music. One concert will be held at the crack of dawn with a walk in the mountains, accompanied by music,” says the festival’s current artistic director and conductor, Graziella Contratto. Some 60 young talented artists have been invited to perform. “What matters when

I choose the musicians is that they are good at playing chamber music and can complement each other well. There is no point to ask someone who plays like a god as a soloist, but lacks the empathy and sensitivity necessary when perform-ing in an ensemble. The aim is to open up their artistic egos in the best sense of the term to form a ‘we’.”

Contemporary Music on the Program

When thinking about chamber music, music from the baroque period automat-ically springs to mind. “Contemporary classical music isn’t forgotten and is an integral part of the Davos Festival’s program. Not only will modern music be performed, but two Swiss composers (Cécile Marti and Laurent Mettraux) have also been invited. Two of their works, especially written for the festival, will have their world premieres on July 30,” Contratto explains. An innovation in this year’s festival is a composer’s work-

shop accessible to the general public under the guidance of the Estonian com-poser Erkki-Sven Tüür. “This workshop will look at the style of the invited com-posers and their vision of creating sounds,” Contratto says. Other novelties include new concert locations such as a carpenter’s workshop, the waiting room of the Davos Platz railway station and various mountain chapels.

One concert will be held in the lobby of the Hotel Schatzalp, built in art-nou-veau style at the turn of the last century. The audience will listen to a trio lying on a chaise longue, just as the guests spending time in Davos at the time of Thomas Mann’s “Magic Mountain” did. Most concerts will however still take place at the Davos Congress Center. The fame of the festival is expanding and last year’s edition attracted more than 5,000 people. Credit Suisse has been partner of the Davos Festival ever since its launch in 1986. Dorothée Enskog

Left  The Lucerne Festival in Summer, which runs between August 13 and September 21, will feature symphony orchestra and chamber music concerts, old and modern music, music theater and many other events.  Right  The dynamic and enthusiastic conductor Graziella Contratto was appointed as the Davos Festival’s artistic director in 2006. Contratto is, however, not a newcomer to the festival, as she already was invited to participate as conductor in 1999 and 2000. The Davos Festival takes place between July 26 and August 9.

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Antoine Tamestit grew up surrounded by music from a young age, encouraged by the musical interest of his father and grandmother. “I asked for a violin for my fifth birthday and got one, but my parents didn’t want to push me. I was allowed to experiment with the instrument for a couple of months before starting to take proper lessons.”

The discovery of Johann Sebastian Bach’s six cello suites at the age of 10 greatly attracted him to the instrument’s deep and grave timbre. “My violin teach­er persuaded me to switch to the viola rather than to the cello, as it is much closer to the violin while having a graver pitch,” he recalls. “Today, I couldn’t play any other instrument. The viola’s pitch range appeals to me as it is very close to the human voice.”

After studying at the Paris Conserva­tory, Tamestit went on to Yale University to study with renowned violist Jesse Levine, followed by three years of month­ly lessons with another notorious violist, Tabea Zimmermann, in Berlin. “The way these two musicians play greatly inspires me,” the viola player says, citing violist William Primrose, violinists David Oïs­trakh and Frank Peter Zimmermann and cellist Yo­Yo Ma as other sources of in­spiration.

“Playing the viola is highly satisfying to me. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. I’m lucky to have a profession which doesn’t seem like a job everyday, though I absolutely don’t want to minimize the enormous amount of practice and effort behind every musician,” he says.

Antoine Tamestit – A Viola VirtuoseTo gain the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award, Antoine Tamestit not only gave a remarkable solo concert, he also had to win a jury over to his views on the role of music in society. The 29­year­ old musician will perform with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Lucerne Festival on September 8 as part of this prize.

Developing a Wide Repertoire

The musician masters a wide repertoire, covering several centuries. “As a violist I’m called to play a largely contemporary repertoire, as many pieces were written in the 20th and 21st centuries. But to understand and make modern classi­cal music, you need to be familiar with the baroque and classical repertoire,” Tamestit underlines. “I enjoy all musical epochs and strive to have the largest possible repertoire. Given the relatively few concerts with solo parts for the viola, I need to be able to play in ensembles of various sizes besides giving concerts.”

He estimates that he spends about a third of his time giving solo performances with the orchestra, and the remainder playing sonatas accompanied by piano, or performing chamber music in trios or quartets. “It’s on stage that I manage to express all my feelings, even those I don’t necessarily express in my everyday life.” Tamestit also teaches viola at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, Ger­many, every other week. “It’s rewarding to have my own pupils and help them progress. It’s also very challenging to explain something which might come naturally to me,” he emphasizes. When­ever he has some free time at his dis­posal, Tamestit enjoys watching movies, visiting exhibitions of contemporary art or taking pictures.

Bartók’s Viola Concert

Béla Bartók’s viola concert is one of Tamestit’s favorite pieces and the one he has chosen to perform with the Vienna

Philharmonic Orchestra at the Lucerne Festival on September 8. “The first move­ment is both modern and complex, the second is romantic with a pureness of sound that I do the utmost to attain. The third is almost Hungarian folk music. This mix allows me to demonstrate the vari­ous aspects of viola playing,” he notes. He describes this upcoming solo ap­pearance together with the Vienna Phil­harmonic Orchestra, conducted by Ric­cardo Muti, as “somewhat of dream I didn’t think would ever come true. I’m certain I will progress a lot as musician as result of this concert.”

In addition to this performance, Ta­mestit will also receive 75,000 francs as part of the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award. “Paradoxically, this sum is in­valuable as it gives me the possibility to freely realize an artistic project. I plan to place an order with a major composer,” Tamestit explains. “It’s important to add to the instrument’s repertoire, as the existing one isn’t as wide as that of the violin, for instance. It’s also essential to be in contact with contemporary com­posers who can push the viola and the violists to their limits.” Dorothée Enskog

More About the Credit Suisse  Young Artist Award

The award, which is presented every two years, aims to provide highly talented young soloists with the means and opportuni-ties to perform, in order to make a decisive breakthrough to  a major international musical  career. The Credit Suisse  Jubilee Foundation provides  the financial backing, while the  Lucerne Festival and the  Vienna Philharmonic contribute their expertise and supply  the venue for the performance. Cellist Sol Gabetta was awarded the prize in 2004 and pianist Martin Helmchen in 2006.

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Antoine Tamestit, who grew up in Paris, lives a stone’s throw away from the Grand Place in central Brussels, when he is not touring around  the world. He plays a viola made by Antonio Stradivarius in 1672, loaned to him by the Habisreutinger Foundation. It is an invaluable instrument,  as it is one of only six still existing violas made by Stradivarius.

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The Austrian of the year in 2007 in the field of culture and arts management was Markus Hinterhäuser, concert director of the Salzburg Festival. He was awarded this prize not least for his courageous launch of the “Continent” project.

This allowed Hinterhäuser to base his programing policy around the composer Giacinto Scelsi (1905 –1988) from La Spezia – his own hometown – and thereby afford such a highly individual modern composer the recognition that he de-serves. The “Scelsi Continent” is followed in 2008 by the “Sciarrino Continent.” When you follow the trail of the 62-year-old Sicilian composer Salvatore Sciarrino, there are some truly astonishing discov-eries to be made.

Such an honor is about so much more. It acknowledges the achievement of the impossible. While they could hardly con-sign the highly successful Mozart jubilee of 2006 to the recesses of one’s mem-ory, the new team – with Jürgen Flimm as artistic director, Thomas Oberender in charge of theater, and Markus Hinter-häuser himself – has nevertheless suc-ceeded at a stroke in leading the Salz-burg Festival into the post-jubilee era in a congenial fashion.

Program With Eros and Thanatos

“Last summer’s success exceeded all our hopes, though it was devoted to a diffi-cult topic: the nocturnal side of reason,” says Jürgen Flimm as he looks back with satisfaction. “The topic threaded its way through many of our operas, concerts and plays. Numerous debates and sym-

For Love Is as Strong as Death From July 26 to August 31, the Salzburg Festival, one of the most important festivals on the classical music scene, offers a program full of surprises and highlights. Credit Suisse has been active as its main sponsor since 2006.

posia were devoted to the dark side of our seemingly enlightened life.”

The finale was provided by Jan Fabre’s “Requiem for a Metamorphosis,” a meta-phorical funeral parlor for that last, inex-plicable moment of transition: the kiss of death. And this provides the theme for the new program. It is determined by Eros and Thanatos, the gods of love and death. The motto itself, “For love is as strong as death,” is taken from the Bible’s Song of Solomon; and “jealousy,” it goes on, “is as severe as Sheol.”

Love and Death 

The summer of 2008 is all about that in-divisible link between love and death. There will be 43 opera performances, 81 concerts and 68 theater performances. In the face of this high number of events, we can be glad that the artistic director did not just choose love alone. But anyone who remembers Salzburg 2007 will not fear a morose, depressing pro-gram, but can instead look forward to a high-class, diverse mix that will be enriching in every sense, offered at 13 different venues.

At the center of attention, rightly, there are the opera performances. And they begin with a bang: “Don Giovanni” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. “Don Giovan-ni” has already been in the program of 25 previous festivals, the last time being in 2006 in a production by Martin Kušej, with the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Daniel Harding. Often seen and heard – and yet time and again it offers something quite new. This mutability is

itself a sure sign of a masterpiece, but above all it also honors the artists who refuse to restrict themselves to a mere art of reproduction. This time, Bertrand de Billy will conduct the Philharmonic, Christopher Maltmann will play Giovanni, and Matthew Polenzani will sing Don Ottavio. Many will particularly look for-ward to seeing Annette Dasch as Donna Anna and Dorothea Röschmann as Donna Elvira.

On August 1, there follows the pre-miere of Verdi’s “Otello” with Riccardo Muti (conductor) and Stephen Langridge (producer ), then on August 2, there is the premiere of Charles Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette.” Yannick Nézet-Séguin is in charge of the music, while Bartlett Sher is the director. One of the questions to be asked here is: Who will replace the pregnant Anna Netrebko and sing Juliette alongside Ailyn Pérez ?

The secret was reveiled when Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler presented the new program in person to the Swiss members of the “Association of Friends of the Salzburg Festival” in the Meisen guild house in Zurich. Commercial Direc-tor Gerbert Schwaighofer assured every-one that the recent cancellation of Anna Netrebko had resulted in not a single ticket being returned – and since the new Juliette was the 25-year-old Georgian Nino Machaidze, no one would regret it either.

The Salzburg Festival, incidentally, is a phenomenon in commercial terms, with a profitability of 74 percent, where-as German opera houses on average achieve only 13 percent. The public purse thus pays about 26 percent of its budget, and Schwaighofer reckons that this is less than what the state gets back in taxes. Audience capacity in 2007 was a brilliant 94 percent, with 207 events and 244,000 visitors in total.

But back to the opera premieres: On August 6, Béla Bartók’s only opera, “Duke Bluebeard’s Castle,” will be per-formed in Hungarian. Peter Eötvös will conduct, while Falk Struckmann plays

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>

Bluebeard and Michelle DeYoung sings the part of Judith. One week later, Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” (see cover photo) will return, in a production by Pierre Audi, conducted by Riccardo Muti. This classic has been performed at 33 festivals already, and exceeds even “Don Giovanni” in popularity. A miracle? Well, it’s magic, to be sure.

Encounter With a Water Sprite

Guests and employees of Credit Suisse will attend various events at the Salzburg Festival, in particular the premieres of “Don Giovanni” on July 27 and of “Otello” on August 1, the Swiss National Day.

But the premiere of Antonín Dvořák’s “Rusalka” is particularly important to the bank. Not necessarily because this “lyri-cal fairy tale” has in fact never before been performed in Salzburg. But with its third “summer encounter” on August 17, Credit Suisse can offer a healthy contri-bution to the success of “Rusalka.”

“On the day of the premiere, we will give the 80 or so media representatives in at-tendance extra background information on the work,” explains Michael M. Rüdiger, head of Credit Suisse Central Europe, who will welcome the journalists and guests and act as their host. “Wolfgang Herles, chief editor of the cultural program ‘Aspects,’ will lead a panel discussion with the artistic director, Jürgen Flimm, plus the two directors Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito.” The summer encounter will once more take place in the “House for Mozart,” as will “Rusalka” itself.

This opera will be performed in the original language, with German and English surtitles. Piotr Beczala will play the prince, Alan Held the water goblin Vodník, and Adam Plachetka the forest-er. Emily Magee is the foreign princess, Camilla Nylund will play the water sprite Rusalka, Birgit Remmert the witch Ježibaba, and Eva Liebau, a member of the ensemble of the Zurich Opera House, will play the scullery boy.

The Concert Association of the Vien-na State Opera Chorus is for once

1  The “Rusalka” team: Franz Welser-Möst, Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito   2  Director Philipp Stölz (left) with Credit Suisse Chairman Walter B. Kielholz   3  Artistic director Jürgen Flimm (left) with the Credit Suisse CEO of Private Banking Walter Berchtold  4  Salzburg Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler (left) with the head of Credit Suisse Central Europe Michael M. Rüdiger  

1

3 4

2

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www.salzburgerfestspiele.at

joined not by the Vienna Philharmonic, but by the Cleveland Orchestra – one of the Big Five orchestras of the USA – under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst. In September 2010, Welser-Möst will leave the Zurich Opera House after 13 highly successful years, to become the general music director of the Vienna State Opera. He has also just extended his contract with the Cleveland Orchestra into their jubilee year of 2018.

The Americans will travel from Salz-burg on to the Lucerne Festival (p. 12), where on August 30 they will give the world premiere of the fourth work in the series of Roche Commissions, the “New Work for Piano and Orchestra” by the British composer George Benjamin.

Salzburg Is the Place to Be

To be sure, Salzburg is a place of coming and going: a meeting place for up-and-coming talent, but also a place of fare-well for those who have earned great-ness by giving us unique musical experi-ences over the years and decades. It was 1960 when the festival debuted with the Vienna Philharmonic and a young Austrian pianist from Wiesenberg in northern Moravia, performing Hin-demith, Krenek and Stravinsky.

On August 3, 2008, he will give the third solo concert in the Large Festspiel-haus, at the age of 77. It is sold out. It will be his 64th and his final concert at the festival, titled “Love and Death.”

To say goodbye is always to die a little, but it is his own decision, while he is still at the height of his powers. It is a great honor for the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra that in early October it will accompany him on his farewell tour to Luxembourg, Paris and Amsterdam. But on December 18 in Vienna, Alfred Brendel will give his definitive, final public concert: again with his Vienna Philharmonic.

A Musical Social Project 

In 2007, Daniel Barenboim and his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra spent three weeks as guests in Salzburg. These young

musicians come from almost all the countries sharing common borders in the conflict-ridden Middle East. Together with their audiences, they create hope, and bring to fruition what art can do: dismantling boundaries, making peace.

This year, the Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra from Venezuela is visiting the Salzburg Festival. It is a testament to a social musical project, FESNOJIV (Fun-dación del Estado para el Sistema de Nacional Orquestas Juveniles e Infan-tiles de Venezuela). Its founder, Profes-sor José Antonio Abreu, began distribut-ing musical instruments 30 years ago and since then has been transforming a whole country, step by step, into a musi-cal paradise for children.

Today, the Sistema employs 15,000 music teachers and gives lessons to 250,000 children, 90 percent of whom

come from low-income, socially disad-vantaged families. The country used to have two symphony orchestras, but the project has since produced 125 youth or-chestras, 57 children’s orchestras and 30 professional symphony orchestras.One of these children swapped from the trombone to the violin on account of his short arms, then discovered composing and later conducting, too. At the age of only 16, Gustavo Dudamel became chief conductor of the Simón Bolivar National Youth Orchestra, the figurehead ensem-ble of the Sistema. It is the beginning of an international career. Andreas Schiendorfer

Salzburg Festival from July 26 to August 31

July 27 (premiere) Don Giovanni. Opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Bertrand de Billy, conductor; Claus Guth, producer;  Christopher Maltman, Don Giovanni; Annette Dasch,  Donna Anna; Matthew Polenzani, Don Ottavio;  Dorothea Röschmann, Donna Elvira.

August 1 (premiere) Otello. Opera by Giuseppe Verdi. Riccardo Muti, conductor; Stephen Langridge, pro-ducer; Aleksandrs Antonenko/Simon O’Neill, Otello;  Marina Poplavskaya/Maria Luigia Borsi, Desdemona.

August 17 (premiere) Rusalka.OperabyAntonínDvořák. Franz Welser-Möst, conductor; Jossi Wieler and  Sergio Morabito, producers; Piotr Beczala, prince; Emily Magee, the foreign princess: Camilla Nylund, Rusalka;AlanHeld,Vodník;BirgitRemmert,Ježibaba.

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Italy, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands – the Bolshoi Theatre company embarked in July on a successful summer tour of sold-out concerts and ballet per-formances. The tour will close with per-formances of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s and Konstantin Shilovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” libretto at the Palais Garnier in Paris from September 6 to 10. “Eugene Onegin” is a famous Russian opera, based on Alexander Pushkin’s novel in verse of the same name.

September 14 marks the beginning of the 2008/2009 season, though the first premiere, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh,” takes place almost a month later, on October 10. Chief conductor Alexander Vedernikov explains the significance of this opera: “This is one of a few epic operas in the Russian repertoire. And, its own dramatic conflict apart, it is an opera that touches on issues which are of significance for the whole of humanity. Herein lies its strength and topicality.”

Vedernikov believes the opera raises two basic issues: that of man’s relation-ship with nature and the issue of moral choice. “As we live in an age of major ecological upheavals and moral relativ-ism, when fundamental principles are made subservient to political expediency,

The Bolshoi: A 21st Century Theater Steeped in HistoryFollowing a destination-packed European tour in summer, the Bolshoi Theatre ensemble is preparing to return to Moscow for the start of the 2008/2009 season. But before they set foot on home soil again, they will make an eagerly awaited stopover in Paris.

it’s vital we listen to the message of this opera, ‘The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh.’”

Setting High Standards 

The first performances in the Bolshoi Theatre date back to 1780, though the building has been through several trials and tribulations. It burned down in 1825, only to be rebuilt on the same site. In 1853, fire struck again, destroying the theater’s interior, which was restored within three years. From 1941 to 2005, the Bolshoi has presented hundreds of large -scale productions, including clas-sical ballets and operas. The main build-ing again closed its doors in 2005 for major restoration to preserve the histori-cal architectural monument, and to mod-ernize the stage to meet today’s tech-nological requirements. Despite the clo-sure, the ballet and opera companies continue to stage an extensive repertory of concerts and performances at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow.

If the reconstruction continues ac-cording to schedule, the Bolshoi Theatre will celebrate its reopening in Autumn 2010, an event which Bolshoi’s General Director, Anatoly Iksanov, looks forward to. “Our theater has been one of the world’s premier venues for the perform-

ing arts for over 200 years,” he says. Bringing the theater back up to inter-national technology and safety standards while continuing to develop its strong repertoire of performances, cannot be met by state funding alone. “To maintain creativity at such a high level, we rely on partners that share our understanding of quality. We are happy to have found a partner in Credit Suisse.” Michèle Bodmer

Above  The grand Bolshoi Theatre is undergoing renovations scheduled for completion in late 2009.  Below  A scene from the Russian opera 

“Eugene Onegin.”

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