The Etrillard Foundation has partnered with the new festival “Le Piano Symphonique” in Lucerne, exploring the relationship between the piano and the world of a symphony orchestra. The festival’s philosophy aligns with the Etrillard Foundation’s mission to highlight the piano tradition, while promoting young talent and giving a privileged place to the rediscovery of forgotten pieces. For its second edition, which took place between February 7 and 11, 2023, in the city of Lucerne, “Le Piano Symphonique” paid tribute to the figure of Robert Schumann, performed by world stars such as Martha Argerich, Rudolf Buchbinder, and Khatia Buniatishvili.
One of the Festival’s originalities was to bring early music to an unusual venue: the audience was invited to go a few hundred meters from the Culture and Convention Centre to a former disused municipal swimming pool, transformed into a bar and performance hall. Spectators were surprised to discover a harpsichord and attended a recital by Jean Rondeau in a program of 18th-century French music. Through this support, the Etrillard Foundation helps to build bridges between tradition and modernity and develops its action on Swiss territory in Lucerne, a legendary city in the history of music where figures such as Wagner, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Schumann, and Scriabin lived or composed their works.