Grand Finale: Es ist genug (?)

Bach — and beyond. For the grand finale of Lucerne Festival Pulse, Víkingur Ólafsson himself takes the stage to perform the composer’s famous F minor Piano Concerto. Following intermission, Hong Kong-born maestra Elim Chan leads the Mahler Chamber Orchestra in Brahms’s Fourth Symphony — a work that likewise bears Bach’s influence. The finale’s Passacaglia theme, which Brahms transforms with masterly skill, comes from Bach’s earliest surviving cantata, Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich (“For Thee, O Lord, I Long”), BWV 150. Even in Berg’s Violin Concerto — “one of the most Romantic ever,” as Víkingur calls it — a Bach reference appears in the form of a quote from the chorale Es ist genug (“It Is Enough”). For this performance, he has invited his favorite violinist, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, entrusting her with a special role: instead of an encore, she will play the original chorale. The orchestra will sing along, and the audience is invited to join in. “That’s something I’m not sure has ever been done at Lucerne Festival,” Víkingur says. “But the question is, can we really ever have enough of music?” The answer is clear: no — nor of Lucerne Festival Pulse, which will return for its second edition in 2027.

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