Speaking of the festival created in 1994, Martin Engstroem's close friend, pianist Martha Argerich, famously said that Verbier is a place where artists play works they haven't played before and work with colleagues they haven't played with before.
When Argerich withdrew because of health concerns, panic flickered briefly. But at Verbier, stars reinforce one another. Pletnev, Kozhukhin, Yuja Wang, and Zhang Haochen filled the gap. Lang Lang, absent from Verbier for years, performed on Feb 3 before appearing days later at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Milan.
"Home country with Verbier spirit!" Yuja Wang wrote on her 5-million-follower Instagram account, punctuating the post with a mountain emoji. Wang's parents also came. Her mother prepared a crimson Tang suit for Martin Engstroem.
Artists like Wang have spent many summers at Verbier in the Alps with hikers, students and fans. To get there, you get off the train at Martigny, before the RegionAlps commuter rail or the cable car takes you up the mountains, opening up to a breathtaking view of Mont Blanc. "I first went there when I was 15 for the Verbier Festival Academy. I remember getting off the train and I was like: Oh! What is this?" recalls pianist Denis Kozhukhin. "So Martin's known me since I was a boy."
Engstroem's path to founding the festival was unconventional. Learning the piano as a teenager in Stockholm, he studied music history and Russian in Stockholm, before becoming a top-tier manager in the years of vinyl records and CDs. He has played chess with Gregor Piatigorsky, worked with Herbert von Karajan and produced Puccini's Turandot at the Forbidden City with Zubin Mehta and Zhang Yimou.
In the summer of 1991, as his former wife, soprano Barbara Hendricks went touring in southern France, Engstroem took their two children to Verbier, an hour's drive from their home in Montreux. At the time, Verbier was only known as a ski resort, Engstroem saw the potential to create a vibrant summer season based on classical music.
He telephoned executives at Nestle, BNP Paribas and United Bank of Switzerland repeatedly. After persistent negotiations with corporate sponsors, the festival was launched in 1994 to inspire both young musicians and superstars. "Everyone learns something," says Engstroem. In its first edition, the festival featured a youth orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta. Mischa Maisky was there from the beginning, along with stars like Evgeny Kissin and Maxim Vengerov.
"Unfortunately, money has always been an issue," admits Engstroem. The first year's budget was 1.8 million Swiss francs ($2.3 million). Now, it has grown to 13 million. Verbier has also become a sought-after destination. Shops display pictures with music stars who stop to look at Swiss watches. Everyone is part of the community.
Early concerts were held in a non-soundproof tent. "It rains three or four times during the festival, so concerts had to stop because it was too loud," recalls Engstroem. A temporary structure was later added to improve acoustics, marking the beginning of a steady evolution from makeshift stage to global institution.
