OPENING CEREMONY

A spectacular program opens this 33rd edition with the monumental Turangalîla-Symphony composed by Messiaen and premiered by Leonard Bernstein in 1949. A true symphony concertante, featuring Lucas Debargue on piano and Cécile Lartigau on the Ondes Martenot, it will be conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, arguably the greatest living conductor for 20th-century music, making his long-awaited return to Verbier this summer.
The first part of the concert features the grand finale of Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, performed by the American mezzo-soprano Michele de Young.

Two emblematic works of the interwar period, each with extraordinary emotional power. The Junior Orchestra, conducted by James Gaffigan, will take the stage for the first time in an evening concert at the Salle des Combins. Alongside them, Bruce Liu, First Prize winner of the Chopin Competition, will bring Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 to life, while the Oberwalliser Vokalensemble will showcase the full strength of their voices in the famous Carmina Burana.