Gstaad Festival Orchestra

About this event

An evening of full-blooded Romantic orchestral music: the Gstaad Festival Orchestra handpicks musicians from Switzerland's top orchestras each season to create a fresh, festival‑spirited sound. Dutch conductor Jaap van Zweden – who rose from concertmaster of the Concertgebouworkest to lead the New York Philharmonic, and now brings his crisp, energetic style to the Seoul Philharmonic and soon to the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France – leads the programme. The first half is Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto in B minor, a lesser‑heard gem of aching lyricism and explosive virtuosity. Soloist Daniel Hope, who has a long artistic bond with the work, gives Elgar's intimate, soul‑searching writing a luminous, expressive reading. After the interval, van Zweden and the orchestra turn to Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. The famous four‑note opening still crackles with defiance, and the Großer Saal's acoustic makes the full‑orchestra tuttis a visceral, seat‑shaking experience. The concert lasts just over two hours, including one interval.