Now available online and vinyl, with artwork by Louisa Gagliardi

In a remarkable union of art and music, the OSI’s latest recording – of Tchaikovsky’s »Manfred«, conducted by Markus Poschner – is live on the major digital platforms, as well as in a limited double-LP collectors’ edition with cover artwork by celebrated Swiss artist Louisa Gagliardi, available from 30 January on www.osi.swiss.

After their comprehensive rereadings of symphonic works by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana launches 2026 with a superb new recording dedicated to the famous Russian composer and conducted by Maestro Markus Poschner. The work in question is the »Manfred« Symphony in B minor, Op. 58, issued as a double LP in only 300 numbered copies by the Claves Records label. The recording is also available through digital distribution channels on the main online platforms.

The vinyl release is adorned by a cover image from Swiss artist Louisa Gagliardi, star of the hugely popular exhibition »Many Moons« at the Museum of Art of Italian Switzerland (MASI) in Lugano in 2025. In this special collaboration with the OSI, Louisa Gagliardi was inspired by the haunting story of the Romantic hero Manfred – protagonist both of the Symphony as well as of the poem of the same name by Lord Byron – a character full of contradictions, whose dramatic existential journey sees him wandering through an Alpine landscape, plagued by never-ending inner torments.

The »Manfred« Symphony, recorded in Lugano just over two years ago, again in coproduction with RSI (Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana), follows the CD release of the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies by Tchaikovsky in 2023, with which it shares the same innovative approaches, being part of the »Traces« project in which, over a period of time, the OSI and Maestro Poschner offered a rereading of the symphonic as well as other works by Tchaikovsky. Their objective was to present these pieces in a new, more chamber-like manner (thus particularly suitable to the OSI’s own character), full of subtleties and details that are too often lost in the ›monumentalist‹ performances that are the legacy of the Russian-Soviet tradition.

Completing this »Manfred« double LP are an in-depth liner note by musicologist Ulrich Erich Linke as well as the customary artist biographies. The recording, overseen by sound engineer Michael Rast for the RSI (Radiotelevisione Svizzera di lingua italiana), was made in December 2023 at the Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI in Lugano.

REVIEWS

» NDR – Album der Woche

» Musica

» Gramophone

» Pizzicato

» Concerti

Foto: Louisa Gagliardi

Le Sinfonie n. 5 & 6 di Čajkovskij in una prospettiva completamente inedita nel nuovo CD dell’OSI e Markus Poschner

A conclusione di un ampio percorso di rilettura delle opere sinfoniche di Piotr Il’’ič Čajkovskij, l’Orchestra della Svizzera italiana e il suo Direttore principale Markus Poschner presentano una nuova produzione discografica dedicata al famoso compositore russo. Il prodotto comprende un doppio CD, rispettivamente con la Quinta e la Sesta Sinfonia: »The 5 & 6 Symphonies Tchaikovsky« (etichetta Claves).

REVIEWS

» Musica

» Crescendo Magazine

» RONDO Das Klassik- & Jazz-Magazin

» das Orchester

» TicinOnline

» LaRegione

» M&T – Musik & Theater

» Radio România Muzical

Foto / Grafik: OSI – Orchestra della Svizzera italiana