GstaadLife

The 13th edition of Festival La Folia brings upcoming stars and tried-and-true favourites to Rougemont’s beloved early music festival. La Folia 2013 takes its theme ‘Beyond the Alps’, from the Austrian courts of yesteryear, where centuries ago enlightened royals financed in-house composers and orchestras par excellence.

Highlights of the festival include tonight’s opening Concert Brisé with William Dongois and the Sunday, May 19 concert featuring star violinist Eva Saladin. Saladin returns to La Folia with her colleague at Schola Cantorum Basiliensis soprano Jenny Högström to present the programme ‘Amanti Ignoranti—Italians from the North’. Don’t miss Ruedi Lutz’s signature energy and style come alive on Monday, May 20, when he’ll be improvising with two students from the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis on festival president Jean-Michel Chabloz’s ‘four seasons’ harpsichord.

While the festival brings big names like Monteverdi and Gesualdo to the public, other composers might not be well-known to most classical music fans. Early music enthusiasts, however, will delight in four days of works by von Biber, Muffat and Schmelzer, amongst others.

All concerts will be held in Rougemont’s Saint-Nicolas Church. Tickets range from 20 to 45 francs and may be reserved online or by phone. For more information please visit Festival La Folia.

ROFL - Oliver Preston published two new books recently - 'Another Log on the Fire' and 'Fondue and Furs'. The latter looks at Gstaad and Saanenland and a barrel of laughs is guaranteed :-)

Everybody talks about it - here is a movie about it - the planned cultural center known as Les Arts Gstaad. After the jump you can read a translated article about the first planning phase which appeared in our sister publication, the Anzeiger von Saanen.

The 85 year old Oskar Buchs is showing his latest works in his atelier in Gstaad along with sculptures by Martin Bill.

by Peter Sonnekus-Williams

Ian Wilson: ­ businessman, lawyer, photographer, writer, all words that have been used to describe Ian’s career over the past years.

A father of three, Ian was born in an old seaside town of 1960’s England from where he says he ‘escaped’ for the bright lights of London as soon as he could. After studying law at King’s College, he spent 8 years in Hong Kong where he soon left be­hind his burgeoning legal career as ‘too boring’ and has since built successful business interests that have taken him all over the globe.

He now lives in the beautiful moun­tains of Saanenland and Pays d’Enhaut and, writing under his nom de plume of Dan Fox, Ian’s de­but novel, Nine Lives, was recently published. A deep and highly emotional journey, this book was nomi­nated for the 2011 Booker Prize.

Simply hilarious - Preston's pictures capture Gstaad at its best. Check out his new exhibition at the Gstaad Palace from February 17 to 18 2011, 17h-21h. You can enjoy a little pre-dégustation after the jump.

 
When Damien Hirst is in town, we might expect to see our dear Saanenland cows end up like the one above. But no worries - Andipa Gallery is only exhibiting unique works on paper by Damien Hirst alongside original rare paintings by Banksy at the Gstaad Palace from February 15 to 20 2011. Sounds like a very unique and interesting exhibition - check it out if you are around. 

Article from Gstaad My Love 2010-11 magazine by Hans-Ueli Tschanz

Rolf Schneider, the lawyer and notary, first came to Gstaad for an internship more than 30 years ago. This was an important crossroad in his life. Since then Rolf Schneider has been a trusted source when the situation calls for competent consultation or effective lobbying. He has taken on numerous jobs over the years for the local authorities, as well as for the tourism and industry sectors. He knows Gstaad’s chalet and hotel clientele like nobody else and loves Saanenland as a “Kraftort” (ie a place to rejuvenate oneself) and as a home for him and his family. And hardly anyone can believe that he will turn sixty this year.

 

Interested in cool art deco ski posters? Pullman Galleries in London is launching 'Art Deco in the Alps', a collection of limited-edition posters from newly-commissioned works of art. The exclusive collection of 24 posters reprises the quintessential heritage and dramatic imagery of vintage alpine resort posters, featuring a choice of nine iconic winter sports locations, including Gstaad, Davos, St Moritz, Zermatt and Verbier. Only 93 days till Christmas...

Many of you know that Kirsty Bertarelli wrote the song 'Black Coffee' which the group All Saints interpreted to became a number 1 hit. But have you listened to her new album yet? Some of the songs were written 20 years ago and some only recently. What's interesting is that Kirsty does not even play an instrument and only composes with her voice. If you're a fan of popular music, this is decent stuff. Listen in for yourself with the below video that features an unplugged performance in the offices of 20 Minuten during a recent press tour: