The festival Le Piano Symphonique returns to Lucerne for its fifth edition, once again spearheaded by the great Martha Argerich as pianiste associée alongside a who’s-who of contemporary pianists! This installment stars French virtuoso pianist Alexandre Kantorow in a lineup that begins with the moody maelstrom of Prokofiev’s hair-raising Piano Concerto No. 3 but doesn’t stop there: Kantorow shows off the lesser-known dreamy side of Charles-Valentin Alkan in three evocative Preludes, and performs the world premiere of The Kalamazoo Flow by leading Swedish composer Anders Hillborg. The piano star is joined in the Prokofiev by British maestro Robin Ticciati and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra who also play Dvořák’s entrancing Symphony No. 8 in G, an irresistible Bohemian journey featuring cozy folk melodies, a melancholy waltz of supreme elegance, and a stirring trumpet fanfare in the finale.