Name: Marking her 50th anniversary on the Lucerne stage
Start: 2026-08-23T11:00:00
Location: St. Charles Hall Meggen

Roman Patkoló

Oleksandra Fedosova

Lucerne Festival

The piercing call of the carnyx likely sounded across Lake Lucerne more than 2,000 years ago, when Celtic tribes settled in Central Switzerland. Liza Lim has composed a concerto for this ancient bronze trumpet, nearly two meters long, asking herself “how ancient lineages of human and more-than-human creativity reside in bodies, cultural artefacts and the Deep Time histories of place, carrying seeds of resilience and also potential danger that may yet bloom again.” Far less exotic is the second solo instrument of the evening, the clarinet. Yet composer-in-residence Mark Andre — inspired by extensive sound experiments with Jörg Widmann — coaxes from it a wealth of entirely new timbres. 

Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (LFCO) | Elim Chan

KKL Luzern Concert Hall

How time flies! Anne-Sophie Mutter was just 13 when she made her Lucerne Festival debut on 23 August 1976. At St. Charles Hall in Meggen, she performed works by Tartini, Bach, de Falla, Paganini, and de Sarasate — accompanied by her brother Christoph at the piano. Her debut was so sensational that she became the talk of the town for days. Word even reached the great Herbert von Karajan. He invited her to play for him, was instantly captivated, and invited the young Anne-Sophie to perform with the Berliner Philharmoniker. So it was in Lucerne that her international career began — and she has remained loyal to Lucerne ever since, giving 50 concerts over the course of 50 years. She has even been serving on the Festival’s Board of Trustees in recent years. On the exact day of her golden anniversary — and on the historic site where it all began — Anne-Sophie Mutter, in conversation with Executive and Artistic Director Sebastian Nordmann, looks back on a half-century during which she has made musical history. But there is more on the agenda: the future of classical music and of the Festival, and her commitment to fostering exceptional young talent. The double bassist Roman Patkoló, whom Anne-Sophie Mutter formerly supported through her foundation, will provide the musical framing.