Arriving in Lucerne on a hot Sunday afternoon, it felt like I had never been away. I missed the last two summers of the festival, but the two first were so intense that it was all still very clear in my eyes: the impressive and beautiful hall of KKL, the lake, the coffee machine backstage and the huge Lucerne Festival Orchestra in front of me, viewed from the back desk of the 2nd violins.
Landing in Switzerland just four hours before the first rehearsal was quite exhausting, but as I had been playing every project of MCO since the beginning of May I really wanted to be at home as long as possible. So, there I was on my view seat again. Some people had changed over the years, but the sound of the cellos and the basses playing their first entrance of Mahler’s 3rd symphony was as powerful and roaring as ever. It is always a huge pleasure to my ears and to my heart to listen all of these very strong personalities as they play. Especially all of the solo winds and the concertmaster Kolja Blacher. Though it does take a few days to get the orchestra really to play together - coming from various different cultures, orchestras, and musical lives, in the beginning we are always like a bunch of wild powerful horses who need to be tamed. I started that rehearsal already quite tired but was woken up by the music and by the work with Claudio. He was very inspired and excited and didn't show any sign of tiredness, even after two and a half hours of rehearsal without a break.
The two weeks in Lucerne this time were again an unforgettable experience. I deeply enjoyed playing both MCO concerts and Beethoven’s 9th and Mahler’s 3rd Symphonies with the LFO. Abbado has a really amazing ability to pull out a very colourful, beautiful, intense and at the same time sensitive sound from the orchestra and to create a surprising and lively flow of the music, and he really makes every concert an experience, a journey. In the repeat concerts there is always a fresh, new interpretation, it's never like it was the night before. It's a great and fulfilling feeling to give and throw yourself completely into his musical vision. One of the most touching moments came after the 2nd concert of Beethoven 9, when there was an elderly couple standing outside the hall and the man thanked us for the performance with tears in his eyes and said that for 20 years he had been waiting to hear a perfect interpretation of that symphony and tonight he finally heard it!
Although I enjoyed making music the whole time, the rehearsal period was also very tough: on top of the LFO concerts we played two very nice concerts with the MCO under Philippe Jourdan and Pierre Laurent Aimard, so in the first week we ended up rehearsing three concert programs at the same time and the hours actually started to be too much for my body. But it was very nice in between the huge orchestra to play with the smaller familiar group, with close friend and with such extraordinary musician as Aimard. The atmosphere between people in LFO hasn't really changed over the years, it's still quite divided into groups. But like last night in Mahler 3rd, making music very strongly brings us all together on stage.
We just arrived in London and I am very much looking forward to playing at the Proms and in Snape on Thursday, and during the days giving my body and mind a good rest with some beautiful museums and wandering around the city.
