With this year’s festival being the 50th since it was founded by Lord Yehudi Menuhin in 1957, Swiss television has produced a 50-minute documentary entitled ‘Menuhin – the Swiss Years’ (to be broadcast on August 20 at 23h00 on SF1 and later on TSR and TSI). There is also a bilingual German and English book about the history of the festival entitled ‘Gstaad and the Menuhins’. In an interview with GstaadLife, Christoph Müller, artistic director of the festival since 2002, stated...
"This year’s festival program will be within the same framework as the years before: chamber music in the churches of Saanenland and Pays d'Enhaut and orchestral concerts in the festival concert tent”. The festival is divided into three parts: symphonic works, chamber music and opera, and a series called Today’s Music. “The idea is to maintain the guiding principle of traditional classical music in specific locations (churches, festival tent) with chamber music, chamber orchestras, symphonic orchestras and operas”, said Müller, stressing the importance of adding “some color” with the musical experimentation of the Today’s Music program.
Celebrating the festival’s Golden Jubilee “offers some special highlights, such as the residence
of the London Symphony Orchestra for two weekends” added Müller, and brings concert performances from such superstars as Maxim Vengerov, Valery Gergiev, Jessie Norman, and Mischa Maisky.
To honor “the spirit of Lord Menuhin’s interest in other forms of music-making”, the festival will organize ‘Tout le Monde du Violon’, where violinists from various cultures and musical worlds, such as gypsy, jazz and Indian, as well as traditional classical music, will come together in what Müller refers to as “the festival inside the festival”.
Every year, musicians from many different countries, religions and cultures come to take part in this prestigious event. For instance, Indian violinist Dr L Subramaniam will be accompanied by players from Mumbai, and gypsy musician Titi Winterstein will play with a gypsy ensemble from Romania. There will also be a series entitled ‘Junge Preisträger’ that aspires to bring together young musicians from Russia, Argentina, Switzerland and Germany. “The festivals brings people together without political or religious borders”, said Müller. This makes it one of the most important festivals for classical music in Switzerland.
Lord Menuhin always believed that “by having young artists perform we create an atmosphere of readiness and encouragement. In this way, older ones will become younger in spirit, and
the younger ones more mature”. This is why children are never forgotten at this festival.
Concerts will be presented by the children of Saanenland led by Margrith Gimmel, who was behind the production of last year’s ‘Peter and the Wolf’, ‘Carneval des Animaux’ and is responsible for this year’s ‘Magic Flute’. Müller believes it is important to involve children and families in productions such as these, for it gives them a taste of the magic of music which is “essential for their own life as well as for the future of the festival.”
For the past 50 years, there were many small changes that had a great impact on the festival. All the while many things remained constant. One of the most important changes took place in 1989. Menuhin had always aimed to conduct “more and more symphonic orchestras” Müller explained. Thus the grand concert tent was built to accommodate some 1,900 people. Though it was challenging to sell all 1,900 seats for every concert, to Menuhin it was step closer to making his wish come true. In 2000 a new tent was constructed which had “much better acoustics and atmosphere”. In the past two years, festival organizers have added new locations for open-air concerts, such as the castle in Rougemont, where an atmosphere is created by the surrounding landscape and historical buildings. Despite these changes, church concerts remain just as they were back when the festival was founded: “a connection between an authentic atmosphere and ambiance with traditional classical chamber music.”
Of course, preparing for such a large scale event requires great effort. Without sponsors such as HSBC Private Bank, loyal patrons and benefactors, this event would not be possible, not to forget the team involved in the organization and planning of the event under the leadership of Leonz Blunschi, chairman of the board of the festival. Each year, the festival attracts around 20,000 people, with profits totalling between SFr 4m and SFr 4.5m; “an important institution for the local economy”, said Müller. Besides that, the amount generated in other sectors such as hotels, restaurants and mountain facilities adds up to SFr 11m.
The festival brings pleasure to a varied audience, which in Gstaad is a “special mix” ranging from farmers to international tourists, who get the chance to experience “top class music within a holiday atmosphere”, said Müller. Müller feels that the people of Saanenland are used to living with and around music. “I would be happy if music was such a normal commodity in [my hometown] Basel” he added. He believes that the most outstanding attribute of this festival is that it gives everyone a “top-class concert” experience, the likes of which can normally only be heard in metropolitan cities such as London, Berlin, and Vienna. “The festival belongs to this place. The mix of music, culture, nature and atmosphere is unique here. The roots are here and also the future”, Müller concluded.
With this year’s festival being the 50th since it was founded by Lord Yehudi Menuhin in 1957, Swiss television has produced a 50-minute documentary entitled ‘Menuhin – the Swiss Years’ (to be broadcast on August 20 at 23h00 on SF1 and later on TSR and TSI). There is also a bilingual German and English book about the history of the festival entitled ‘Gstaad and the Menuhins’. In an interview with GstaadLife, Christoph Müller, artistic director of the festival since 2002, stated...
"This year’s festival program will be within the same framework as the years before: chamber music in the churches of Saanenland and Pays d'Enhaut and orchestral concerts in the festival concert tent”. The festival is divided into three parts: symphonic works, chamber music and opera, and a series called Today’s Music. “The idea is to maintain the guiding principle of traditional classical music in specific locations (churches, festival tent) with chamber music, chamber orchestras, symphonic orchestras and operas”, said Müller, stressing the importance of adding “some color” with the musical experimentation of the Today’s Music program.
Celebrating the festival’s Golden Jubilee “offers some special highlights, such as the residence
of the London Symphony Orchestra for two weekends” added Müller, and brings concert performances from such superstars as Maxim Vengerov, Valery Gergiev, Jessie Norman, and Mischa Maisky.
To honor “the spirit of Lord Menuhin’s interest in other forms of music-making”, the festival will organize ‘Tout le Monde du Violon’, where violinists from various cultures and musical worlds, such as gypsy, jazz and Indian, as well as traditional classical music, will come together in what Müller refers to as “the festival inside the festival”.
Every year, musicians from many different countries, religions and cultures come to take part in this prestigious event. For instance, Indian violinist Dr L Subramaniam will be accompanied by players from Mumbai, and gypsy musician Titi Winterstein will play with a gypsy ensemble from Romania. There will also be a series entitled ‘Junge Preisträger’ that aspires to bring together young musicians from Russia, Argentina, Switzerland and Germany. “The festivals brings people together without political or religious borders”, said Müller. This makes it one of the most important festivals for classical music in Switzerland.
Lord Menuhin always believed that “by having young artists perform we create an atmosphere of readiness and encouragement. In this way, older ones will become younger in spirit, and
the younger ones more mature”. This is why children are never forgotten at this festival.
Concerts will be presented by the children of Saanenland led by Margrith Gimmel, who was behind the production of last year’s ‘Peter and the Wolf’, ‘Carneval des Animaux’ and is responsible for this year’s ‘Magic Flute’. Müller believes it is important to involve children and families in productions such as these, for it gives them a taste of the magic of music which is “essential for their own life as well as for the future of the festival.”
For the past 50 years, there were many small changes that had a great impact on the festival. All the while many things remained constant. One of the most important changes took place in 1989. Menuhin had always aimed to conduct “more and more symphonic orchestras” Müller explained. Thus the grand concert tent was built to accommodate some 1,900 people. Though it was challenging to sell all 1,900 seats for every concert, to Menuhin it was step closer to making his wish come true. In 2000 a new tent was constructed which had “much better acoustics and atmosphere”. In the past two years, festival organizers have added new locations for open-air concerts, such as the castle in Rougemont, where an atmosphere is created by the surrounding landscape and historical buildings. Despite these changes, church concerts remain just as they were back when the festival was founded: “a connection between an authentic atmosphere and ambiance with traditional classical chamber music.”
Of course, preparing for such a large scale event requires great effort. Without sponsors such as HSBC Private Bank, loyal patrons and benefactors, this event would not be possible, not to forget the team involved in the organization and planning of the event under the leadership of Leonz Blunschi, chairman of the board of the festival. Each year, the festival attracts around 20,000 people, with profits totalling between SFr 4m and SFr 4.5m; “an important institution for the local economy”, said Müller. Besides that, the amount generated in other sectors such as hotels, restaurants and mountain facilities adds up to SFr 11m.
The festival brings pleasure to a varied audience, which in Gstaad is a “special mix” ranging from farmers to international tourists, who get the chance to experience “top class music within a holiday atmosphere”, said Müller. Müller feels that the people of Saanenland are used to living with and around music. “I would be happy if music was such a normal commodity in [my hometown] Basel” he added. He believes that the most outstanding attribute of this festival is that it gives everyone a “top-class concert” experience, the likes of which can normally only be heard in metropolitan cities such as London, Berlin, and Vienna. “The festival belongs to this place. The mix of music, culture, nature and atmosphere is unique here. The roots are here and also the future”, Müller concluded.
