In a lamp driving circuit for operating a high intensity discharge lamp, an a commutation circuit comprises at least two switching devices. The switching devices are alternately switched active at a commutation frequency. The active switching device switches at a switching frequency. During an ignition mode, the switching frequency and the commutation frequency are substantially equal. A resulting commutation voltage is supplied to an inverter resonant circuit for generating a supply current. At a node of the inverter resonant circuit, a clamping circuit limits the generated voltage to a predetermined maximum voltage. The voltage at said node of the inverter resonant circuit is applied to an output resonant circuit. The output resonant circuit operates in the ignition mode as a resonator for generating a high ignition voltage; in a steady state operation mode, the output resonant circuit operates as a low-pass filter for reducing a high frequency current component in a lamp current.