The official launch is almost upon us classic Ascona 2026 and the music will begin to resonate as early as September 2nd. The festival, scheduled from September 18th to October 10th between Ascona and Locarno, anticipates its season with a concert entrusted to a young protagonist of the international piano and one of the major Italian symphony orchestras.
The Cornèr Banca Preview , scheduled for Wednesday 2 September at 20.00 pm in the Church of San Francesco in Locarno, will see Alexandra Dovgan at the piano , accompanied by the Milan Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Emmanuel Tjeknavorian.
The program, entitled Between Worlds – Zwischen Welten , will unite two works from different eras and artistic backgrounds: Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, and Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, “From the New World. ”
A young pianist already established on the international scene
Born in Moscow in 2007, Alexandra Dovgan has attracted international audiences and critics in just a few years. Her career, which began at a very early age, has led her to perform in major concert halls and collaborate with leading orchestras and conductors.
Her talent was also recognized by Grigori Sokolov , who spoke of a musician with "absolutely uncommon" abilities, underlining her interpretative maturity and naturalness in her approach to music.
In Locarno, Dovgan will tackle one of the most significant pieces of Beethoven's piano production. The Fourth Piano Concerto represents a fundamental step in the evolution of the German composer's concert language.
Beethoven and a dialogue that changes the rules of the concert
Composed in the early 19th century and premiered publicly in 1808 with Beethoven also performing as a soloist, the Piano Concerto No. 4 is notable for the special relationship it builds between the piano and the orchestra.
From the opening, unexpectedly entrusted to the solo instrument, Beethoven alters the traditional structure of the concerto. It's not the orchestra that introduces the musical discourse and then leaves room for the piano, but the piano itself that takes the lead.
The work alternates moments of intense lyrical concentration with passages of greater energy and tension. The second movement, particularly brief and dramatic, establishes a close confrontation between orchestra and soloist, while the finale takes the composition to a more luminous dimension.
Alexandra Dovgan's presence will therefore offer Ticino audiences the opportunity to hear one of the most respected young performers of the new generation grapple with a central score in the piano repertoire.
The Milan Symphony Orchestra with Emmanuel Tjeknavorian
Alongside the Russian pianist will be the Milan Symphony Orchestra , a group that in recent years has consolidated its activity through a programming aimed at both the great repertoire and contemporary music and new languages.
Leading the orchestra will be Emmanuel Tjeknavorian , music director of the orchestra. Born in Austria and already well-known as a violinist, Tjeknavorian has developed an increasing activity on the podium in recent years, collaborating with numerous European musical institutions.
His presence in Locarno is part of the preview preceding the official opening of classicAscona 2026, an event that this year will once again bring together established performers, young musicians, and leading orchestras.
From Beethoven to Dvořák's New World
The second part of the evening will be dedicated to Symphony No. 9 by Antonín Dvořák, universally known by the title From the New World.
The composition was written during the Bohemian musician's stay in the United States, where Dvořák served as director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York. The first performance took place in the American city in December 1893 and was received with great acclaim.
Over time, the work has become one of the most popular symphonies of the Romantic repertoire. Dvořák's music combines his European education with the influences he encountered during his American period, without sacrificing the distinctive features of his own writing.
The famous theme of the second movement, one of the most recognizable passages in nineteenth-century symphonic music, is just one of the elements that have contributed to the work's success. The entire symphony unfolds through a continuous exchange between memory, discovery, and movement, characteristics that contributed to the choice of title for the Locarno program.
Between worlds, the common thread of the evening
The concert on September 2nd was in fact grouped under the title Between Worlds – Between Worlds . The juxtaposition of Beethoven and Dvořák suggests a journey that spans eras, geographies, and different ways of conceiving the relationship between the individual and the musical community.
On one side, Beethoven's piano, called to dialogue and engage with the orchestra; on the other, Dvořák's grand symphonic architecture, composed during an artistic experience far from the Central Europe where he was born and raised.
The preview will therefore serve as the first event in a calendar that, from September 18th to October 10th, will bring classicAscona 2026 to Ascona and Locarno with a series of concerts dedicated to the classical repertoire and its contemporary interpretations.
September 2 program
The evening will begin at 8:00 pm and will have a total duration of approximately 110 minutes, including intermission.
On stage:
Alexandra Dovgan, piano
Milan Symphony Orchestra
Emmanuel Tjeknavorian, direction
On the program:
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58
Antonín Dvořák
Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, “From the New World”
Tickets, starting from 40 francs, are available on the official website www.classicAscona.ch.
Students and apprentices up to the age of 26 will also have free admission by purchasing tickets at the evening box office, according to the methods established by the organization.
The September 2nd event will thus mark the informal launch of classicAscona's new season, before the official inauguration scheduled for two weeks later. For Ticino audiences, it will be an opportunity to witness the encounter between a young performer already established on the international scene, a leading Italian orchestra, and two works that, more than two centuries after their composition, continue to occupy a central place in the history of symphonic music.
