John Rhodes – Seen and Heard International

Magnificent Mahler’s Third Symphony inaugurates Zurich’s renovated Tonhalle

17/09/2021 by John Rhodes

Switzerland Mahler: Wiebke Lehmkuhl (alto), Zürcher Sängerknaben (Konrad von Aarburg, Alphons von Aarburg, chorusmasters), Ladies of the Zürcher Sing-Akademie (chorusmaster Florian Helgath, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich / Paavo Järvi (conductor). Tonhalle, Zurich, 16.9.2021. (JR)

Mahler 3 inaugurates the renovated Tonhalle (c) Gaetan Bally

New production of Salome overwhelms in Zurich

14/09/2021 by John Rhodes

Switzerland Richard Strauss, Salome: Soloists, Chorus of the Zurich Opera, Philharmonia Zurich / Simone Young (conductor). Zurich Opera, Zurich. 12.9.2021. (JR)

Elena Stikhina (Salome) and Mauro Peter (Narraboth) (c) Paul Leclaire

Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra in a mixed Russian programme at Lucerne

14/09/202131/08/2021 by John Rhodes

Switzerland Lucerne Summer Festival [3] – Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky: Mariinsky Orchestra / Valery Gergiev (conductor). Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Lucerne (KKL) 29.8.2021. (JR)

Valery Gergiev conducts the Mariinsky Orchestra © Peter Fischli

Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin at the Lucerne Summer Festival – two works, two worlds

14/09/202129/08/2021 by John Rhodes

Switzerland Lucerne Summer Festival [2] – Schubert, Beethoven: Staatskapelle Berlin / Daniel Barenboim (conductor). Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Lucerne, 27.8.2021. (JR)

Staatskapelle Berlin and Daniel Barenboim (conductor) © Peter Fischli

Paavo Järvi’s Schumann’s Third Symphony lives up to expectations at Lucerne

14/09/202126/08/2021 by John Rhodes

Switzerland Lucerne Summer Festival [1] – Schumann: Christian Tetzlaff (violin), Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich / Paavo Järvi (conductor). Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Lucerne, 25.8.2021. (JR)

Christian Tetzlaff (violin) (c) Priska Ketterer

Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in 2021/22

21/08/202106/07/2021 by John Rhodes

New Season’s Preview: Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich 2021/2022

The Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich has just announced its new season’s programme. The orchestra moves back into its splendidly renovated old hall, the Tonhalle, down by the lake. It has taken four years to re-paint, re-gild, put in a new floor, seats, air-cooling and humidity system, create a terrace with a view of the lake and the Alps and modernise backstage. A new organ has been installed, and I can testify it sounds magnificent. Everyone looks forward to the opening of the new season, in the ‘new old hall’. ‘See you am See’ (See you by the lake) is the orchestra’s current slogan – typically, partly in English, partly in German.