Celebration | 70th Anniversary Concert | Mehta & Zukerman

A festive opening under the sign of reunion, celebrating 70 years of shared musical passion in Gstaad. For the Festival’s new Artistic Director, Daniel Hope, this opening concert is also a journey back to where it all began. He still recalls that lunch at the Hotel Olden on 17 August 1983 – his tenth birthday – when he met Pinchas Zukerman for the very first time. The memory remains etched into his artistic DNA. Just as Hope once blossomed under the generous guidance of his mentor Yehudi Menuhin, this jubilee edition is devoted to the spirit of togetherness in all its forms. And so, for the Festival’s grand opening, Pinchas Zukerman returns to the stage side by side with his friend Zubin Mehta, a beloved figure at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival ever since his electrifying debut at the Gstaad Festival Tent in 2004. Together, they join the musicians of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble that played a defining role in Hope’s formative years. As a young boy, he would sit in awe at their inspiring rehearsals at the Saanen Church under Edmond de Stoutz. For Jacques Offenbach’s deeply touching Larmes de Jacqueline – those “Tears of Jacqueline” made legendary by the unforgettable Jacqueline du Pré – Hope has invited Amanda Forsyth, Zukerman’s wife and an extraordinary artist in her own right. And no evening so rich in memory and emotion would be complete without the timeless brilliance of Haydn and Mozart, the ever-present heartbeat of Viennese musical spirit. A night dedicated to a great musical family – and to a story ready to be written into its next chapters.