A sunrise concert on San Salvatore with six cellos

The San Salvatore funicular is offering a sunrise concert at the summit of the mountain on 16 August. The event is organised in collaboration with AIL.

Six cellists from the CelloLove ensemble take the stage: Claude Hauri, Milo Ferrazzini, Enea Sperati, Gabriel Majek, Sibilla Klay and Francesco Grisafi.

The programme is designed to accompany listeners from the darkness of night to the rising of the sun, along a musical path of considerable intensity. The repertoire crosses various European styles, from nineteenth-century romantic melodies to virtuosity in the Gypsy tradition, through to well-known pieces from film scores.

Times and conditions

The first funicular departures leave at 4.30, 4.45 and 5am. The concert begins at 5.30am and ends with sunrise. A full breakfast follows at the Restaurant Vetta.

Prices are 45 francs for adults and 25 francs for children aged between 6 and 16.

Booking is compulsory by Thursday 13 August. It can be made by telephone on 091 985 28 28 or by email to info@montesansalvatore.ch.

In case of bad weather the event moves to the evening of the same day.

The timing also imposes a choice on those taking part. Going up to the summit before five means giving up part of the night, and that selects an audience willing to treat the concert as an experience tied to place and moment, rather than to the musical programme alone.

The format makes use of existing infrastructure at a time of day when it normally stands idle. The funicular, the restaurant and the summit are used before ordinary opening hours, which also sets the limit of the initiative: it depends on the capacity of the installations and therefore on a restricted number of participants.