Mon, 31.08.2026
Summer Festival: Munich Philharmonic

She was born in 1941, he in 1989: two generations separate the legendary pianist Martha Argerich and the young Israeli maestro Lahav Shani – but it's a clash where sparks fly. When they first performed together in Tel Aviv in 2019, incidentally with Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto, the applause was boundless. Since then, the two have regularly performed together: she at the keys and he on the podium. They also give recitals for two pianos or four-handed encores, as Shani is also a pianist of considerable stature. "When piano and orchestra toss the punchlines back and forth in a nimble, feather-light manner, it's reminiscent of the wit of a classic screwball comedy with Katharine Hepburn," wrote the Viennese newspaper Der Standard about their most recent joint performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto in B-flat major. But one can also look forward to Shani's interpretation of Brahms's sophisticated Fourth Symphony with the Munich Philharmonic, which he will conduct just a few days after his Lucerne guest appearance. He already performed with his new orchestra at the Lucerne Festival last summer, and it was immediately clear: these are the right people!

Program:
John Adams (*1947)
The Chairman Dances. Foxtrot for Orchestra

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 19

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98

Intermission at approximately 8:25 p.m.

Tickets available from March 24, 2026 | 10:00 AM (CET)