Festival Strings Lucerne olv. Enrico Onofri

The Catalan soprano Nuria Rial is the star of this concert, whose resounding title is ‘Grace versus Drama’. She dazzles in a concert aria by Haydn and two opera arias by Gluck. The Haydn aria is clearly in the gracious part of the programme, while Gluck’s ‘Non sperar, non lusingarti’ introduces a more dramatic and at the same time exotic touch, coming from an opera full of Chinoiserie. The aria ‘O del mio dolce ardor’ is Paris’ declaration of pure love from Gluck’s refined opera ‘Paride ed Elena’. The secret word for tonight is ‘Enjoy!’
In between, the outstanding Luzern chamber orchestra under Enrico Onofri show off their great skill in such charming little pieces as the Overture to ‘Olympie’ by Joseph Martin Kraus, the Swedish Mozart. Or else the real Mozart and his Twenty-Ninth Symphony and that little gem ‘Adagio and Fugue’. But the orchestral work that most of you will be looking forward to is undoubtedly Haydn’s famed ‘Farewell Symphony’. With the subtle humour for which he was known, he let his boss know that his musicians really needed a holiday by letting them leave the platform one by one during the closing part of the work.