Introduction

Marking our first collaboration together, the Orchestra national de Lyon’s (ONL) four-date tour will see performances in Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Perm, before finishing at the iconic Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, where ONL Music Director Designate Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Mariinsky Orchestra.

Although the orchestra has toured extensively – even being the first European orchestra to tour China – it has never before performed in Russia. For this momentous occasion, the orchestra is joined by soloist and 2019/20 Artist in Residence Jean-Yves Thibaudet, himself born in Lyon.

During the tour, the orchestra will present Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture, Grieg Piano Concerto, and Mahler Symphony No. 1. Of Mahler’s work, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider says: “His music is so universal, so close to us, that I do not see what could be the arguments put forward for not loving it. It talks about the human condition, everyone can find their way around. We find feelings of anxiety, questioning, an instinct for survival, but above all we hear and we see beauty.”