Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France

Since her debut at Lucerne Festival in 2016, during the “Prima Donna” summer, the Lithuanian maestra Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla has enjoyed a fairy-tale career. She has conducted such major orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; will make her debut with the Vienna Philharmonic in May 2025; and conducted the premiere of Weinberg’s The Passenger at the 2024 Salzburg Festival. A true power woman! Now she returns to Lucerne with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France to present two French masterpieces. Debussy’s La Mer traces the fleeting play of the waves, evoking the spray of the sea and the powerful rush of the waves. Ravel’s Boléro, for its part, repeats a single melody over a steady percussive rhythm, building it persistently as more and more instruments are added and the volume increases — sheer sonic sorcery. But the mood will be ravishingly beautiful at the start of the concert when the fabulous Julia Hagen, winner of the UBS Young Artist Award in 2024, plays Elgar’s nostalgic Cello Concerto: a wistful farewell to the world of yesterday