Riccardo Chailly Withdraws from Lucerne Festival Appearances Due to Illness

Paavo Järvi and Andrés Orozco-Estrada will cover Chailly's concerts

Conductor Riccardo Chailly has had to withdraw from three of his concert appearances at the Lucerne Festival. Chailly, who has been Music Director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2016, has suddenly turned ill and underwent an operation, which prevented him from traveling to the festival.

Two cover conductors have stepped up to allow the three concerts to proceed. Paavo Järvi will now lead the festival's opening concert on August 11, as well as its second performance the following day. Mahler's Third Symphony remains on the program, as does the originally advertised soloist, Maria João Pires — though she will now perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 "Jenamy." At the second performance of the program, Järvi will swap out the Mahler for Brahms's Symphony No. 4.

Järvi is presently the Principal Conductor of the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, as well as running the Pärnu Music Festival in his native Estonia.

Andrés Orozco-Estrada will now lead the third concert, set to take place on August 16. On the program is Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (with soloist Beatrice Rana) and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique.

Orozco-Estrada has been the Principal Conductor of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Houston Symphony Orchestra for many years and has recently accepted a new position at the helm of the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai.