YUNCHAN LIM / ANDRÁS SCHIFF / ALEXANDRA DOVGAN…

At 19, Alexandra Dovgan is already a piano sensation. Encouraged by Grigory Sokolov, showered with superlatives since her debut as a child prodigy at 5, the new star of the Russian piano school astonishes with her intellectual maturity. This morning, Dovgan takes on Beethoven’s monumental ‘Hammerklavier’ (50 minutes of supreme difficulty), to which (for good measure) she adds two of Chopin’s most beautiful nocturnes and Rachmaninoff’s impressive Sonata No. 2. Gripping!

In just a handful of editions, Yunchan Lim has won over the Verbier Festival. A true star in his home country (on a par with some pop singers), the Korean pianist reveals all of Mozart’s humanity in this recital devoted to the music of a composer who loved to confide his secrets to the keyboard.

What a line-up! Three of the greatest cellists of our time (Gautier Capuçon, Pablo Ferrández, Truls Mørk) join forces in a superb Concerto grosso by Penderecki. Everything is larger than life in this evening devised by Maestro Klaus Mäkelä, which culminates in Varèse’s sprawling Amériques.

A downpour of strings this afternoon! For her carte blanche, the brilliant Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang invites two superb colleagues (Marc Bouchkov, Alexandra Preucil) and two splendid violists (Antoine Tamestit and Timothy Ridout) for an original and inventive programme.

For many editions now, the Verbier Festival has been proud to count András Schiff among its most loyal musicians. This evening, the Hungarian pianist dazzles in a sumptuous recital, conceived as a chronological odyssey from Bach to Schubert.

Good things come in threes, as the saying goes. Led by the remarkable violinist Alexandra Conunova, this programme explores every possible configuration of chamber music. From Szymanowski’s visionary Myths to Schubert’s trio, the concert ends with Fauré’s masterly Piano Quartet No. 2.

Take note, a phenomenon! In 2021, at the age of 15, Jaemin Han won the prestigious George Enesco International Competition. For his Verbier debut, the Korean cellist returns to Shostakovich, the composer with whom he triumphed in Bucharest, as well as to the tango rhythms of Astor Piazzolla. His freedom-loving bow finds an ideal partner in Julien Quentin.

Conductor Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider leads a fascinating programme. On the one hand, one of the most famous concertos in the repertoire, Rachmaninoff’s Second, performed by the Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii. On the other, a magnificent work, sadly too rarely heard because overshadowed by the success of the ‘New World’ Symphony, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7.