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Benjamin scores triumph in Lucerne, Berlin, Milan, Turin, Cologne, Gent, Essen and Frankfurt George Benjamin's exceptional few months in continental Europe began in Lucerne in August where he was Featured Composer at the Lucerne Festival and enjoyed performances of 12 of his works.  This was also the setting for the premiere of his Duet for piano and orchestra - a Roche commission.  Dedicated to his old friend Pierre-Laurent Aimard, it was given a highly successful performance by the Clevland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Moest in the stunning lake-side Konzert Saal. Benjamin conducted earlier works with the Ensemble Intercontemporain, and others were performed by Boulez.   Counting the Lucerne experience as one of the artistic highpoints of his life, George immediately went on to take Germany's prestigious Junge Deutsche Philharmonie on a 6-concert tour beginning in Berlin on September 21. The tour also gave the composer his first opportunity to conduct some Wagner - which joined Palimpsests on the programme.  Concurrently, the composer's ground-breaking first opera Into the Little Hill was featured at the Settembre Musicale in Milan and Turin on September 19 and 21, and also saw its Swiss premiere in Lucerne under the composer's baton. This 40 minute work has recently been released on Nimbus along with Dance Figures, Viola, Viola, Three Studies for Violin and Sometimes Voices.  The record has been greeted with acclaim, .. "a dramatic scope out of all proportion to its duration" Int. Record Review "a widening of his music's expressive territory. It can now be simple and sparse as well as luxuriant, and emphatic as well as allusive." BBC Music Magazine. "An exquisite piece, full of beguililng sounds..." The Guardian. See reviews of Duet here.

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