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Piano great Martha Argerich cancels German and Swiss shows over illness

Celebrated Argentina-born pianist Martha Argerich has cancelled concerts in Germany and Switzerland in the coming days due to illness, organisers of the shows said Wednesday.

Published: 9 August 2023 17:15 CEST
Lucerne
Martha Argerich was due to play at a festival in Lucerne, pictured here. Photo by Jovana Askrabic on Unsplash

The 82-year-old, considered one of the world’s best pianists, is scheduled to play a series of shows with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra conducted by Argentinian-Israeli star Daniel Barenboim.

The Cologne Philharmonic said in a statement however that she will not be playing there on Saturday (August 12th) while the Lucerne Festival said separately that she will be absent from the show planned on Tuesday, August 15th.

In both cases, German pianist Igor Levit will take her place to perform Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major.

The next outing on the tour, at the Salzburg Festival on August 17th, appears to be maintained for now, according to the organisers’ website.

No details were provided about Argerich’s illness.

Dubbed the “lioness” for her impressive long, grey mane, Argerich is also known as the “tigress of the keyboard” for her animal-like vitality.

Born on June 5th, 1941 in Buenos Aires, she began playing the piano at the age of three and gave her first concert with an orchestra aged eight.

She moved to Europe with her family in 1955, learning from some of the continent’s top pianists. At the age of 16, in the space of 10 days she won two major music competitions in Bolzano, Italy and in Geneva, later becoming a naturalised Swiss citizen.

A star, she was invited to concert halls around the world and started releasing now legendary recordings of concertos and other works by Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Prokofiev, Ravel, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven.

Her success was sealed when, in 1965, she won Poland’s prestigious Chopin piano competition.

For nearly two decades from the 1980s, Argerich largely shunned solo performances, saying they made her feel lonely, and playing almost exclusively with orchestras and chamber ensembles until a sold-out recital at Carnegie Hall in New York in 2000 in aid of a cancer charity.

In remission from cancer herself, which she suffered in the 1990s, she cancelled for health reasons a series of concerts in 2017.

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CULTURE

What’s on: 10 unmissable events in Switzerland this June

From line dancing to fine art, from mountain runs to lakeside jazz, June in Switzerland has got something for everyone. 

Published: 17 May 2024 08:48 CEST
What's on: 10 unmissable events in Switzerland this June

Here are ten of the best events you can enjoy across the country taking place next month. 

Street Food Festival Locarno

While the Street Food Festival Locarno begins May 30, it does run through June 1. 

The festival will feature 50 food stalls offering freshly prepared delicacies from 30 countries, as well as several bars where you’ll be able to enjoy gin and beer tasting to your heart’s content. 

Unsure about exotic delicacies? Try before you buy with free samples! 

Luna Park Lausanne

Every year, Lausanne’s Bellerive area welcomes children and their parents for a few weeks of festival fun as it plays host to the travelling Luna Park, Switzerland’s largest amusement park. 

Before the park heads to Payerne, it delights visitors in Lausanne with a rollercoaster, various rides, carnival games and a number of food stands.

Similar to Locarno’s Street Food Festival, the fun begins May 8 and runs until June 9. Entry is free, but you’ll need to pay for rides. 

Wine Festival

On June 3, the Casa del Vino Weinfestival in Zurich invites wine connoisseurs and casual enthusiasts to taste a colourful bouquet of top wines while getting to know more about the winemakers behind the fancy labels. 

This year, there’s a focus on Spanish wines, with some of the giants of the wine industry sharing their wares in the Kaufleuten-Saal. 

Advance tickets are 20 CHF and tickets at the day are 30 CHF.  Salud! 

Niesen Stairway Run

This year, the Niesen Stairway Run is celebrating its 21st anniversary and while you can no longer register for the individual run, you can still partake in the relay race on June 7. The run will see runners climb up 11,674 steps to the Red Bull X-Alps 2024 Turnpoint Niesen in the Bernese Oberland, also known as the Swiss Pyramide.

Note that though the run is a modest 3.4 kilometres long, you will be climbing an impressive 1,669 metres of altitude but fear not, the spectacular view is well worth the (arduous) journey.

Tour de Suisse

If you’re not looking to break a sweat yourself but are in the mood for a sporting event nonetheless, you can join other spectators at 14 host cities across Switzerland for this year’s Tour de Suisse, which takes place from June 9 to 18. 

You can also follow the tour’s route online from the comfort of your sofa.

Art Basel

From June 13 -16 Basel’s leading art fair will be showcasing art of the 20th and 21st centuries across 200 selected galleries from around the globe. Prior to attending the event, which also exhibits in Miami Beach and Hong Kong, you will need to secure a ticket (from 35 francs).

If you’re not in the Basel area this June, you can also join the event online on the same dates.

Zurich Pride Festival

Zurich’s annual Pride Festival will be held once again in the city’s Kasernenareal and the Zeughaushof on June 15. The festival sites can be reached from Zurich’s main station on foot in just under ten minutes and entry to the event is free – but there’s another perk.

Festivalgoers attending the event on the second day can use the Regenbogenhaus – packed with mirrors and changing rooms – from 12 pm to 2 pm as their very own styling room. The building will later transform into an oasis of calm between 2 pm and 5 pm for those in need of some downtime after a day’s celebration,

International Trucker & Country Festival

Between June 28 and June 30, the resort town of Interlaken is overrun by would-be cowboys and girls as it rings in its annual International Trucker & Country Festival chock-full of music and entertainment for the 29th time. Daily tickets can be purchased on the festival’s website for 35 francs, or if you’re not quite ready to get out of your cowboy boots, a 3-day festival pass will cost you 139 francs.

Montreux Jazz Festival

Switzerland’s iconic jazz festival returns to Montreux from July 5 July 20 with acts such as Tyla, Raye, Sting and Lenny Kravitz. The programme of the festival’s free stages, which will feature more than 400 concerts, DJ sets, and activities, will be revealed on June 1st.

During the festival, a box office, located at the entrance hall of the Music and Convention Center (2M2C), floor B4, will be open every day from 4 pm until the end of the concerts.

Freiheit at Schloss Burgdorf

Want a decidedly different experience of Swiss history? Starting June 16, visitors to the Museum Schloss Burgdorf, near Bern, will be able to listen to local brass, folk and instrumental  bands perform six important songs from Swiss history that revolve around the concept of freedom in a new exhibition, and reflect on how they have made real difference in the lives of generations of Swiss citizens. Admission is included in the cost of museum entry – a place which, in itself, tells an amazing story of Switzerland’s past. 

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