Jakub Hrůša conducts Mozart, Schumann, and Mendelssohn — With Emmanuel Pahud

Jakub Hrůša takes the podium at the Lucerne Festival to lead the prestigious Mahler Chamber Orchestra—regular guests of honor at the Swiss spectacle—in a deliciously varied program beginning with Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture. Inspired by the composer's visit to Fingal's Cave, a marvel of the Scottish archipelago, the piece is technically demanding and rapturously beautiful, immediately evocative of wind and sea, a gem in Mendelssohn's oeuvre.

Next up is Franco-Swiss flutist Emmanuel Pahud's time to shine—and he takes full advantage in Mozart's Flute Concerto No. 1, one of the monuments of the flute repertoire. Finally, the evening concludes in high style with Schumann's Symphony No. 2, a work written during a low emotional period for the composer that nevertheless finishes on a note of triumph in the concluding Allegro.