Music in the Alps!
Take a Trip of a Lifetime! The Lucerne Festival August 30-Sept 7, 2025
Join us for a spectacular, week-long musical extravaganza this summer in the Swiss Alps!
Thanks for your interest in the Lucerne Festival trip! We’re not taking any more registrations at this time, but we invite you to join the waiting list. Contact The Grand Tour at [email protected] or call 800-727-2995.
Friends and patrons of the Sarasota Concert Association and classical station WSMR, are invited to join us for a spectacular, week-long musical extravaganza next summer in the Swiss Alps! Some of the finest orchestras in the world will perform at the Lucerne Festival, one of the great musical events in Europe. In this picturesque town on a gorgeous eponymous lake, ringed with stunning mountain peaks, you’ll revel in the plush sounds of the Berlin Philharmonic, often called the “Rolls Royce” of orchestras; the inimitable Vienna Philharmonic, the sterling Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, led by world-renowned conductors. To hear these three orchestras all in the same week will be an unforgettable experience!
Tour Highlights
• Prime tickets to the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, and more!
• Private tour and recital at Wagner’s house in Lucerne
• Excursion to Mt. Rigi overlooking Lake Lucerne
• Deluxe 4-star accommodations and top restaurant dining
• Private motor coach for all excursions in the itinerary
• Plenty of free time for sight-seeing, shopping or relaxing
“Wherever I cast my gaze, I am surrounded by a magical world here; I know of no other home on earth more beautiful, indeed, none more comfortable than this.”
— Richard Wagner in Lucerne
We will have a private visit at Richard Wagner’s house, and hear a recital on his own piano; take a cog railway to the top of Mt. Rigi overlooking Lucerne; and tour a splendid private collection of art featuring the works of Picasso and Paul Klee, arguably Switzerland’s greatest modern artist. The tour takes place amid the splendor of mountains, lakes and wonderful old Swiss towns. Enjoy deluxe accommodations in Lucerne, fine dining, a boat ride on gorgeous Lake Lucerne, and plenty of free time for additional sight-seeing, shopping or just relaxing. We look forward to seeing you on this unforgettable musical journey!
Itinerary
Sunday, August 31 – Zurich Airport to Lucerne
From The Grand Tour’s suggested flight, our private coach takes us from Zurich Airport to Lucerne. Check-in is at the 4-star Hotel Renaissance, in the center of Lucerne and a short walk to the concert hall. We are greeted with a glass of bubbly before our welcome dinner (included in tour price) nearby.
Monday, September 1 – Lucerne Tour & Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
The morning begins with a private guided tour of Lucerne, one of Switzerland’s prettiest towns. Its lively streets, hidden alleys and picturesque façades of medieval buildings in the Altstadt (Old Town) make it perfect to explore on foot. We’ll stroll across 14th century Chapel Bridge, one of the city’s two iconic picture-perfect wooden bridges, and admire its medieval gable paintings, and rest and reflect in the contemplative 13th century Franciscan Church, an unspoiled example of medieval Gothic mendicant architecture. The sculpted Lion Monument commemorates the Swiss Guards massacred during the French Revolution in 1792, and the amazing Bourbaki Panorama is a 360˚ trompe-l’oeil painting of the retreat of a French army into Switzerland in 1871. Lunch (included in tour price) is in the old town.
Tonight, our first concert takes place in the state-of-the-art KKL, the 1900-seat home of the Lucerne Festival, with its stellar, some say “perfect” acoustics. The rising superstar maestro Klaus Mäkelä leads the storied Royal Concertgebouw in a program of music by Schubert and Mahler’s 5th Symphony, featuring the moving Adagio, famously prominent in Visconti’s 1971 film, Death in Venice.
Wednesday, September 3 – A Modernist Collector and Berlin Philharmonic
Angela Rosengart’s passion for art began at age 17 when her father allowed her to purchase a drawing by Paul Klee for her birthday. That passion continues at 91 years of age, and this morning our visit to the Rosengart Collection bears this out. Besides entire floors devoted to Klee, the eminent Swiss artist, and Picasso, who depicted her at least five times, the work of 23 artists from Impressionists to early Modernism are on display and a delight. Lunch (included in tour price) is nearby. Your afternoon is free before a performance of the mighty Berlin Philharmonic, led by Kirill Petrenko, only the seventh maestro to lead the historic orchestra, in Mahler’s great 9th Symphony, his final completed symphony and the summation of his art.
Thursday, September 4 – Performances by Giorgi Gigashvili and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra
Two Festival concerts today: at the first in St. Lucas Church, a short walk from the hotel, the young pianist Giorgi Gigashvili performs in recital, program TBA. Lunch (included in tour price) follows. In the evening, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, known for its diversity of players and as a “global collective,” performs works by Mozart, Bartók, and Tchaikovsky at the KKL. Maxim Emelyanychev, who at a young age has led many major orchestras, including a debut with the Berlin Philharmonic, is on the podium for Tchaikovsky’s emotionally charged 5th Symphony, and Tabea Zimmermann is soloist in Bartok’s Viola Concerto.
Friday, September 5 – Wagner in Lucerne
Richard Wagner loved Lucerne. After his patron. King Ludwig II, arranged for him to move into a private home, he left the city and lived at Tribschen from 1866–1873, where he hosted many dignitaries including his patron Ludwig, Franz Liszt, and, multiple times, Friedrich Nietzsche. Today we will enjoy a private boat cruise to Wagner’s Tribschen where we are accorded a private, pre-public hours tour of the house and a recital on the Master’s own piano. Lunch (included in tour price) is on the lake in Baumgarten. Our private boat returns to the city and your evening is free.
Saturday, September 6 – The Vienna Philharmonic
A free day in Lucerne for additional sight-seeing, to finish that shopping or simply stroll the pretty waterfront. We will enjoy an early gala farewell dinner (included in tour price) before our final musical feast: the Vienna Philharmonic, one of the great orchestras in the world, performs two great symphonies with notable nicknames: Mozart’s Prague Symphony, as well as Tchaikovsky’s passionate Pathetique, whose premiere the composer conducted in 1893, only days before his death. Franz Welser-Möst, the eminent, longtime conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, leads the orchestra in the final concert of our trip.
Sunday, September 7
The tour ends after breakfast. Transfers to Zurich Airport (ZRH) for flights back to the US, returning the same day.
Tour Pricing & Reservations
• Tour Cost: $7,690 per person, ground only, based on double occupancy.
• Single Supplement: $1,845
• Deposit: $1,000 per person, due upon registration, first come, first served.
• Registration Deadline: Friday, June 27, 2025. After that date, call for availability. Tour limited to 25 participants, or as hotel space allows.
To reserve your place, send the completed registration form with check or credit card information for the deposit amount to:
SCA–WSMR Lucerne Tour, The Grand Tour
PO Box 27
Peterborough, NH 03458
Questions? Contact The Grand Tour at 800-727-2995, or [email protected]; or contact Linda Moxley of Sarasota Concert Association at 941-966-6161, ext. 2 or by email at [email protected]; or Scott Nolan of WSMR at 813-974-8677 or by email at [email protected]
Download the Brochure or Registration Form PDF
