In keeping with the theme of “PrimaDonna,” women played the central role in this year’s Summer Festival: all of the female artists who were performing were honored as “artistes étoiles,” including 11 women conductors. It was the start of a new era: The new Music Director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly, opened the Festival with Gustav Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand. Lucerne Festival once again hosted the most acclaimed international symphony orchestras, which performed a total of 28 concerts in almost daily succession at the KKL Luzern.
Wolfgang Rihm began his tenure leading the Lucerne Festival Academy from 13 August to 4 September as the institution’s new Artistic Director. He conducted a new two-week Composer Seminar, an additional focus to the Academy’s support of composers. Olga Neuwirth returned to Lucerne as composer-in-residence. A total of 15 world premieres could be heard during the Summer Festival. The third Young Performance production, “Divamania,” combined dance and music for the first time and was aimed at an audience aged 9 years and up – it all revolves around the desire to be recognized in the era of social media. This year’s Debut series comprised women exclusively. Lucerne Festival welcomed music lovers to the newly redesigned lobby of the KKL Luzern: “Interval” invited visitors to linger, offering performances by selected Festival artists free of charge. The popular free concert format 40min continued to take place on ten dates.
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