Brilliant Fantasy
CHF
135 / 105 / 85 / 60 / 45
About The Programme
On June 22, 1846, under number 3,226 of the French Patent Office, the patent for a new family of instruments was registered – that of the saxophone. The goal of Belgian inventor Adolphe Sax was to develop an instrument that produced a pleasing sound even in low registers, while also being able to hold its own in open-air concerts. The French composer Hector Berlioz was an early advocate for the saxophone, attesting that the wind instrument was agile in fast passages, but also suitable for "graceful, religious, and dreamy cantilenas." Initially intended primarily for military bands, the instrument gained popularity in jazz and increasingly in popular music. Several factors contributed to the saxophone's growing popularity: its sound was well-suited for early mechanical and electromechanical recording processes. Furthermore, the saxophone was as present in early sound films as it was in fine art – for example, in Otto Dix's "Grossstadt" triptych. Not least due to its organically appealing shape, the instrument developed into an iconic emblem of modernity. At the same time, it still remains rather a marginal phenomenon in classical concert life.
In this concert with the Swiss Orchestra and French saxophonist Valentine Michaud, the saxophone now takes center stage: with its versatile and expressive tone – sometimes soft and dreamy, sometimes sharp and piercing, sometimes melancholic and lamenting, sometimes passionate or playful – the woodwind instrument is capable of evoking diverse associations and inner images: from nocturnal cityscapes to intimate, personal moments. The New Year's concert is therefore themed "Brilliant Fantasy." In addition to Alexander Glazunov's Saxophone Concerto, François Borne's "Fantaisie Brillante" is also on the program – a virtuosic piece featuring well-known melodies from Georges Bizet's opera "Carmen." Alongside two string serenades by Joseph Lauber and Antonín Dvořák, and two New Year's classics by Johann Strauss Senior and Junior, Frank Martin's "Pavane couleur du temps" will also be performed: a composition that owes its name to a fairy tale by Charles Perrault, in which a princess tries to escape a demanded incestuous marriage by requesting a dress in the "color of a storm" – "couleur du temps orageux."
Lineup
VALENTINE MICHAUD, saxophone
SWISS ORCHESTRA
LENA-LISA WÜSTENDÖRFER, conductor
programme
FRANK MARTIN
Pavane couleur du temps
JOSEPH LAUBER
Sérénade pour orchestre à cordes
ALEXANDER GLAZUNOV
Concerto in E-flat major for alto saxophone and string orchestra Op. 109
FRANÇOIS BORNE
«Fantaisie Brillante sur des airs de Carmen»
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK
Serenade in E major for string orchestra Op. 22
JOHANN STRAUSS (JUNIOR, 1825–1899)
Annen-Polka Op. 117
JOHANN STRAUSS (SENIOR, 1804–1849)
Radetzky March
- 16:30Doors open
- 17:00Start of concert
- 19:00Approx. end time
concert hall
Andermatt
How to get there
Details on how to get there can be found on the ANDERMATT MUSIC website.
barrier-free access
The Andermatt concert hall is barrier-free. Wheelchair tickets are available via email at info@andermattmusic.ch or at Andermatt Alpine Apartments at +41 41 888 78 00.
Seating on the balcony is recommended for people with reduced mobility. Chamber music concerts and New Folk Music concerts usually do not have grandstand seating: Here, all seats are accessible without steps.
The Andermatt concert hall has an inductive listening system.
Garderobe
evening ticket office
The box office opens 1 hour before the start of the concert.
Doors open / late entry
Admission to the concert hall is 30 minutes before the start of the concert. Late admission is only possible during applause between plays and on the guidance of the hall staff.
Discount
Discounts are available for children, students and members of the Gotthard MemberClub. Details about the benefits can be found here.
An extraordinary saxophonist, Valentine Michaud combines musical finesse with an extraordinary artistic vision. A winner of numerous awards, in 2020 she won the prestigious Credit Suisse Young Artist Award. The first saxophonist to appear as a soloist with the Vienna Philharmonic, Valentine made her debut with it under Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Lucerne Festival in 2022. Valentine is a regular guest soloist with renowned orchestras such as Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Philharmonie Zuidnederlands, MDR Sinfonieorchester, United States Navy Band, Moscow Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, State Cappella St Petersburg and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. For the 2024/25 season, Valentine is the soloist-in-residence with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande for over 25 concerts conducted by Jonathan Nott, Giuseppe Mengoli or Zofia Kiniorska.
Convinced of the richness of collaborations with other art forms and seeking to develop new concert formats, Valentine is the co-founder of the transdisciplinary collective SIBJA, of which she is the artistic director together with her brother Emmanuel Michaud, performs as an instrumentalist and designs costumes. Her duo Akmi, with her pianist partner Akvilė Šileikaitė, has been performing around the world since 2015. Together, they regularly commission works from composers, and their debut album Beyond the Wall was released in November 2023 for Avie Records. Since 2022, Valentine has been performing as a duo with her brother Gabriel Michaud on percussion, with unique programmes combining new works, transcriptions and arrangements. Their first album, Oiseaux de Paradis, will be released in September 2024. Based in Switzerland since 2010, Valentine is a graduate of the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne, the Université Paris IV Sorbonne and the Zurich University of the Arts, and has been teaching at the Conservatoire Populaire de Musique de Genève since 2017. Since September 2024, she has been a guest professor at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
For everyone who wants to hear Swiss symphonic music, and to live it too
Enjoy exclusivebenefits, get a glimpse behind the scenes, and do a good thing
