Is it important for the works on a concert bill to relate to each other to form a single overall idea? Certainly not when it comes to the pieces included in this splendid concert, which are nonetheless imbued with a general sense of beauty and lyricism.

The cycle of five Mahler songs entitled Rückert-Lieder can be performed in any order, and there is no clear motivation for their composition. They are echoed by Béla Bartók's Five Hungarian Folksongs, also sung by Magdalena Kožená under Simon Rattle at the head of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Dvořák's Capriccioso Scherzo and Schubert's symphonic masterpiece, the Great Symphony No. 9, open and close the programme: a listening experience that opens with an atmosphere of magical evocation and builds to a kind of apotheosis.

No need to introduce the Chamber Orchestra of Europe (COE) to the Lugano public. It was founded in 1981 by a group of young musicians who had met through the European Community Youth Orchestra (now EUYO). Today, the EOC's sixty-odd members pursue parallel careers as conductors or leaders of national orchestras, eminent chamber musicians and music teachers.

From the outset, the COE's identity has been shaped by its collaboration with outstanding conductors and soloists. Claudio Abbado, in particular, was an important mentor in the early years. He led the COE in opera productions such as Rossini's Il Viaggio a Reims and Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni, and conducted numerous concerts featuring works by Schubert and Brahms in particular. Nikolaus Harnoncourt greatly influenced the COE's development through his performances and recordings of all the Beethoven symphonies and opera productions at the Salzburg and Vienna festivals. The orchestra presently collaborates closely with Sir András Schiff and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, both honorary members following in the footsteps of Bernard Haitink and Nikolaus Harnoncourt.