Norman Lebrecht

Swanky, stale and sullen, the summer music festival has had its day

The traditions of the Salzburg, Lucerne and Verbier festivals were built on fear, vanity and Nazi gold. Why would anyone miss them?

Verbier wanted to be the antidote to the corruption and ostentation of other festivals but it wasn’t long before vanity trumped verity. [Photo: Nicolas Brodard, Verbier Festival] 
issue 23 May 2020

‘Festival?’ said Nathan Milstein. ‘What is festival?’ I had naively asked the most immaculate of violinists where he used to play in the summer and he looked at me as if I had proposed an unnatural act.

‘Before the war,’ said Nathan, offering a glimpse of paradise lost, ‘Volodya and I would stay at Senar for six weeks with Rachmaninov.’

GIF Image

Disagree with half of it, enjoy reading all of it

Free for a month
Our magazine articles are for subscribers only. Try a month of Britain’s best writing, absolutely free.

Comments

Join the debate, free for a month

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first month free.

Already a subscriber? Log in