Summer-Festival: Debut Simon Bürki

The pianist Simon Bürki, who was born in St. Gallen, was just 11 years old when he won three prizes at the International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz in 2011. They were far from his last: by now he has collected more than 20 awards, including the Franz Liszt Competition in Weimar and the “Step to Mastery” Competition in St. Petersburg. Yet Bürki resisted the lure of a Wunderkind career and pursued his studies with steady determination — first in Kyiv and Moscow and then in the United States with Sergei Babayan, who also trained Daniil Trifonov. In 2023, Bürki released his debut CD, Reminiscence, a collection of Romantic miniatures from Schumann to Rachmaninoff. The critic Attila Csampai wrote that he was “enchanted by the subtle richness of color, the technical brilliance, and the impeccable touch” of the young Swiss pianist, praising above all “an almost numinous shaping power” in the Études-Tableaux of Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff also forms the center of Bürki’s Lucerne Festival debut, with three song transcriptions and the technically and tonally demanding 10 Préludes, Op. 23.

Performers:
Simon Bürki, piano

Program:
Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)
Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat major, Op. 61

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943)
Flieder, Op. 21, No. 5, arranged for piano by Sergei Rachmaninoff
Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14, arranged for piano by Zoltán Kocsis
Hier ist es schön, Op. 21, No. 7, arranged for piano by Arcadi Volodos
10 Préludes, Op. 23

This concert has no intermission.

Tickets from 24.03.2026 | 10 am (CET)