Although the concerts are always centred on the Leipzig cantor, there is always room for other composers and their presence is notable. Over the years some of the greatest performers and conductors of baroque music have passed through the Swiss city. This year the program is as attractive as ever.

As part of the celebrations of the Mozart Year 2006, the Chœur Da Camera and Orchestre de Chambre Neuchâtel, under the direction of Jan Schultsz, will inaugurate the Festival, on 29 October, performing his Requiem and Thamos, König in Ägyptien KV 345, with the soloists Mélanie Adami, Carine Séchehaye, Raphaël Favre and Philippe Huttenlocher. On 19 November the Haydn Baryton Trio of Budapest will present the program “Soirée à la Cour du Prince Eszterházy”, consisting of works by Haydn and his contemporaries.

On 17 December the Ensemble Vocal et Instrumental Corund of Lucerne, under the direction of Stephen Smith, will perform Handel’s Messiah. On 11 February Cédric Pescia will give a piano recital of works by Bach. On 4 March, Sigiswald Kuijken’s Belgian ensemble La Petite Bande will make their debut in the Festival in a Bach program with the soloists Christophe and Stephan Genz. On 1 April, the Heinrich Schütz Vocal Ensemble and La Capella Lugdunum, under the direction of Gonzalo Martínez, will perform Antonio Teixeira’s Te Deum.

The festival ends on 15 April with the Festival Strings of Lucerne conducted by Daniel Dodds, and the pianist Martin Stadtfeld, in a program of works by Mozart, Bach and Mendelssohn.