Olga Scheps, Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer and Swiss Orchestra

The Swiss Orchestra under the direction of Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer has made a name for itself with its profound interpretation of sound and excellent program concepts. Switzerland is famous for many things, but hardly for its symphonic music, which has a shadowy existence in international perception. The Swiss Orchestra has set about changing this. And indeed, several works have already been rescued from oblivion, thus initiating a renaissance of Swiss symphonic music.

The myth of the hero William Tell has shaped the Swiss self-image for centuries and inspired many artists throughout Europe. Friedrich Schiller wrote the monumental drama "William Tell" at the suggestion of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and the Italian grand master Gioachino Rossini was in turn inspired by it to write his opera "Guillaume Tell", whose worldwide success anchored the name "William Tell" in the collective memory.

Two generations later, the young Basel composer Hans Huber also turned his attention to the Tell saga and incorporated all facets of the heroic story into his "Tell Symphony": In the midst of idyllic images of nature, the struggle for freedom is experienced at first hand; the music is hard to beat in terms of drama.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's legendary Piano Concerto in B flat minor is embedded in these magnificent works under the gifted hands of pianist Olga Scheps, who was born in Moscow to musical parents and emigrated to Germany shortly after the end of the Soviet Union. There she was discovered and significantly supported by Alfred Brendel. Scheps is regarded as a leading interpreter of Tchaikovsky's piano music.

Program:
Gioachino Rossini
Overture to "William Tell"

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor op. 23

Hans Huber
Symphony No. 1 in D minor op. 63
"Tell Symphony"