On 27 & 28 November, Martijn conducted his debut performance in the KKL Luzern, stepping in for an indisposed Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider. The program featured Beethoven’s fourth piano concerto with Maria João Pires.Three days prior to the beginning of the rehearsals, Martijn accepted to step in with an unchanged program.

The concert opened with Subito con Forza by Korean composer Unsuk Chin. Written on the occasion of Beethoven’s 250^th anniversary, this short and eclectic piece utilizes motives from various works by Ludwig van Beethoven. In this concert, it was put as a prelude to Beethoven’s G Major concerto, performed by world-famous pianist Maria João Pires.

After the intermission, the Lucerne Symphony orchestra played Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony, which Martijn previously conducted at his inauguration concert as Chief Conductor of the Hofer Symphoniker.

Photo © Luzerner Sinfonieorchester / Philipp Schmidli