Seestudio | Festspielhaus
25 July 2021 - 7.30 p.m., Seestudio
Tenor Julian Prégardien is as highly acclaimed in lieder singing as he is in opera and Johann Sebastian Bach's oratorios, having performed for instance at the Schubertiade and the Salzburg Festival. He was the first singer to perform Thomas Larcher's fascinating Padmore Cycle after the dedicatee, Mark Padmore. Together with the pianist and harpsichordist Tamar Halperin he creates a musical connection to the early days of opera and presents a cantata by the baroque composer Barbara Strozzi, who also impressed as a singer with her love songs. A further connection to the German-speaking area is created when the versatile harpsichordist plays Johann Sebastian Bach's music. Then, finally, Hans Aschenwald's and Alois Hotschnig's unique poetry is brought to life in Larcher's in part extremly reduced songs.
Tenor Julian Prégardien
Harpsichord | Piano Tamar Halperin
1 August 2021 – 7.30 p.m., Seestudio
Giuseppe Verdi and Arrigo Boito didn't always see eye to eye on the subject of music drama. On the occasion of the world premiere of Franco Faccio's first opera in 1863, Boito accused Verdi of having sullied the altar of art. Yet in 1881 all three artists were at work together on the premiere production of Otello, with Boito as the librettist, Verdi as the composer and Faccio as the conductor. The multifaceted relationship of these musicians comes out clearly in their letters and texts. Accompanying them the HABE-Quartett – composed of musicians from the Vienna Symphony Orchestra – will perform Verdi's only string quartet and Faccio's probably long unheard quartet. A wide arc that spans Faccio's Hamlet, Verdi's Rigoletto and Boito's Nero.
HABE-Quartett
Violin Alexander Burggasser
Violin Ai Miwa
Viola Johannes Flieder
Cello Michael Vogt
Speaker Olaf A. Schmitt
8 August 2021 – 7.30 p.m., Seestudio
In Richard Wagner’s The Rhinegold Wotan, the father of the gods, has an elaborate fortress built – Valhalla. To pay for it he has to give up the stolen gold and the ring that has been forged from it. The ring promises mastery of the world and he is extremely reluctant to part with it. The Rhinegold – the preliminary evening of Wagner’s The Ring of the Nibelung – is among other things a response to capitalism, which was emerging at that time. The analysis of capitalism set out in philosopher Karl Marx’s Das Kapital continues to have a decisive influence on political thinking today. Writer Michael Köhlmeier offers his customary far-reaching reflections, this time on gold and money. His words are accompanied by Franz Liszt’s transcription Walhall and other pieces of music.
Narrator Michael Köhlmeier