Casino de Montreux

1881: the Kursaal, heart of the resort

The Casino de Montreux was born in 1881 as the Kursaal, at the heart of the resort’s social life. Its orchestra, led by Oskar Jüttner from 1889 and then by the young Ernest Ansermet from 1912, gave daily concerts and brought in prestigious soloists, from Pablo de Sarasate to Pablo Casals.

1934: Louis Armstrong, the first jazz

In 1934, Louis Armstrong, aged thirty-three, performed at the Casino-Kursaal, during the “Kursaal Dancing” evenings: he was the first jazzman to play in Montreux, more than thirty years before the festival was founded. The town welcomed jazz long before becoming one of its world capitals.

The Rose d’Or of Montreux (from 1961)

From 1961, the Kursaal hosted the Rose d’Or, the great international television festival that gave Montreux worldwide renown and drew the biggest names in entertainment.

On 20 April 1964 the festival hosted the Rolling Stones, who recorded an episode of the British television show “Ready, Steady, Go!” at the Casino. It was their very first appearance outside Great Britain. Twenty years later, in May 1984, Queen would mime for the Rose d’Or at the Petit Palais.

1967: the Montreux Jazz Festival is born here

In 1967, Claude Nobs founded the Montreux Jazz Festival, whose first editions were held at the casino. There the audience applauded Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone and Keith Jarrett, before the event grew to the scale we know today.

4 December 1971: the fire and “Smoke on the Water”

On 4 December 1971, during a Frank Zappa and Mothers of Invention concert, a spectator fired a flare into the ceiling: the casino caught fire and burned to the ground. From across the water, Deep Purple, who had come to record in Montreux, watched the “smoke on the water” and drew from it their most famous riff. Further reading: the documentary file on the Casino-Kursaal, with its sources (PDF document ↗).

A detail hides inside the rebuilt Casino: the balustrade is decorated with musical notes, those of the “Smoke on the Water” riff.

1975: rebuilding, Mountain Studios and the Platinum

The casino was rebuilt and reopened in 1975. The Mountain Studios recording studio was installed there, which Queen would buy and where David Bowie would come to work; in 1979 the Platinum discotheque also opened its doors there. Today the former studio can be visited: it is the free exhibition Queen: The Studio Experience, extended by the Queen Tribute Wall that pays homage to the band.

Today: the Casino Barrière and the Riviera Café

Today the Casino Barrière is first and foremost a gaming house, with its slot machines and gaming tables, but music has never left the place: it once again hosts stages of the Montreux Jazz Festival (since 2024), houses the Riviera Café, and each year welcomes the Montreux International Guitar Show and the Rock Tribute Festival.

In 2022, the video for “Face It Alone”, Queen’s last unreleased song carried by Freddie Mercury’s voice, recreated the Mountain Studios as they occupied the Casino.