Tournée mit Sir András Schiff – September 2025
7. - 18. September 2025

Hierunter finden mehr Informationen über dier Tournee auf Englisch:

This year, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe celebrates the 40th anniversary of its first concert with Sir András Schiff, at Lichfield Cathedral in 1985. You can hear Sir András recalling this happy memory in episode 19 of the COE podcast, Interlude.

This September, we perform at the Herbstgold Festival in Eisenstadt, where the Orchestra has had a residency since 2022. The programme features Mozart’s Piano Concertos K. 488 and K. 466 as well as Dvorak’s Serenade for Strings (directed by COE Associate Leader Marieke Blankestijn) and Serenade for Winds (conducted by Sir András) on 10th September. They will repeat this programme at two other festivals where the COE makes its debut this year: the Dvorak Festival in Prague on 15th September and the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest on the 17th. At the Herbstgold Festival, the Orchestra will also perform with the Festival’s director Julian Rachlin and world-class violinist Janine Jansen on 13th September. The programme features Mozart’s Symphony No. 35, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 ‚Eroica‘. We are very much looking forward to working again with Janine as our last project together dates back to December 2022 when we had been on an extensive European tour together with Sir Antonio Pappano. On that occasion, she had performed Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the COE in Spain, Greece, Italy, Germany and Belgium.

The motto of this year’s Herbstgold Festival is „Extasy“ and Julian Rachlin explains: „Under the motto “Extasy”, we dedicate ourselves to those moments in which music takes us beyond the everyday – into a state of intense devotion in which sounds, emotions and interpretation merge into an inseparable unity. Extasy in music means the complete penetration of a work – for the performers as well as for the audience. These are the moments when a note resonates and time seems to stand still for a moment. When passion, virtuosity and expressiveness build a bridge between art and soul. Experience renowned artists, extraordinary programs and inspiring encounters in the special ambience of Esterházy Palace. Let yourself be carried away by the power of music – to a festival that is entirely dedicated to the search for the sublime.“

To hear Julian Rachlin talk about his special relationship with the COE and the Orchestra’s residency at the Esterházy Palace, please listen to this podcast episode where he is interviewed by COE Podcast presenter Simon Mundy.

The COE and Sir András Schiff

It is always an immense pleasure for the musicians of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe to work with their long-standing friend and COE Honorary Member Sir András Schiff with whom they have performed well over 100 concerts since their first encounter in 1985 at the Lichfield Cathedral – 40 years ago this year. To hear the whole story, and more, please listen to our interview with Sir András on the COE podcast here.

Our last project together dates back to May 2024 when we toured to Eisenstadt (where we performed with Martina Consonni and Itai Navon, pianists from his Building Bridges initiative), Hamburg, Bergamo and Ferrara. Sir András has been a strong artistic partner of the COE almost since its creation (in 1981) and this very special relationship which has developed over 40 years is crystallised in Sir András’s title of Honorary Member of the Orchestra. Together, they have performed across the world in major festivals and venues such as the Berlin, Cologne and Paris Philharmonies and Kammermusiksaal, London’s Royal Albert Hall and Barbican Centre, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Frankfurt’s Alte Oper, Vienna’s Konzerthaus and Musikverein, Zurich’s Tonhalle and the Lucerne and Edinburgh Festivals. Sir András also performed for the COE’s 35th anniversary private concert in St John’s Smith Square in London back in 2016. Together, they recorded Bach concertos BWV 1052 to 1058 to great acclaim for Decca, “a clear first choice” according to the Penguin CD guide.