Lukas Sternath plays Rachmaninov’s 4th Piano Concerto

Linton Stephens showcases superb performances from the UK and beyond.

All this week, we’re spending time on the banks of Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, hearing concerts given at this year’s Lucerne Festival. Today, we’ve a double helping of Rachmaninov, with Lukas Sternath the soloist in the Piano Concerto No. 4 and Riccardo Chailly conducting a suite of orchestral music from Rachmaninov’s only opera, Aleko. There’s also a performance of Steve Reich’s iconic piece New York Counterpoint, featuring no fewer than 11 clarinettists from the two festival orchestras. And there’s more clarinet music from the Edinburgh International Festival, with players from the Berlin Philharmonic joining pianist Alessio Bax for Brahms’s Clarinet Trio.

From Lucerne Festival 2026:
Sergei Rachmaninov
4 Symphonic Pieces from Aleko
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly (conductor)

From Edinburgh International Festival 2026:
Johannes Brahms
Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114
Alessio Bax (piano)
Bruno Delepelaire (cello)
Wenzel Fuchs (clarinet)

From Lucerne Festival 2026:
Sergei Rachmaninov
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G minor, Op. 40
Lukas Sternath (piano)
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly (conductor)

From the International Sacred Music Festival, Fribourg 2026:
Ercole Pasquini
Ancor che col partire [4’07]
Vincent Kibildis (triple harp)

Maria Francesca Nascimbeni
Ciechi amanti [5’40]
Les Kapsber’girls

Franz Schubert
String Quartet in D minor, D.810 'Death and the Maiden'
Elias String Quartet

From Lucerne Festival 2026:
Steve Reich
New York Counterpoint
Clarinettists from the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly (conductor)

To listen to this programme (using most smart speakers), just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Classical Live".