Orchestral Concerts

Wiener Symphoniker | Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg

Once more, Bregenz Festival put together a unique programme for the orchestral concerts in 2023. At the core of the programme is the music of the turn of around 1900, which is closely linked to the Wiener Symphoniker founded around the same time. Thus, they know the works of Maurice Ravel, Jean Sibelius and Richard Strauss by heart. The rarely played works of Florence Price and Grażyna Bacewicz’s however, are unknown territory even for these experienced musicians. The Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg traditionally ends the concert series with a matinee.

The 2023 Bregenz Festival runs from 19 July to 20 August 2023. For tickets and details visit www.bregenzerfestspiele.com or call 0043 5574 4076.+43 (0)5574 407-6.

  • Wiener Symphoniker, Omer Meir Wellber

    24 JULY 2023 – 7.30 PM, FESTSPIELHAUS

    Until today, Richard Strauss remains one of the most prominent composers. His musical oeuvre is multi-layered, stretching from the Late Romantic, slightly autobiographic tone poem A Hero’s Life to the Dance Suite from Keyboard Pieces by François Couperin, which clearly must be classified as belonging to the European Neoclassicism of the 1920s. The Israeli composer Ayal Adler also likes to play with baroque music. In his world premiere of In Motion, the audience can see Omar Meir Wellber not only as a conductor. He is also performing on the harpsichord and the accordion. 

    Conductor | Harpsichord | Accordion Omer Meir Wellber

    • Richard Strauss Dance Suite from Keyboard Pieces  by François Couperin (excerpts)
    • Ayal Adler In Motion. Concert for Continuo and large orchestra (world premiere)
    • Richard Strauss A Hero’s Life. Tone poem for large orchestra E-Flat major, op. 40
  • Wiener Symphoniker, Dirk Kaftan

    30 JULY 2023 – 11 AM, FESTSPIELHAUS

     “I have two handicaps – those of sex and race”. It was never easy for Florence Price, but when she won a composing competition, her life took a sudden turn: In 1933, her first symphony was premiered by a major US orchestra – a milestone in the history of Afro-American female composers. Charles Ives also suffered the fate of being ignored for a long time. Central Park in the Dark (1909), a classic example of his experimental composing style, only premiered in 1946. Richard Strauss, on the other hand, did not have this problem. His works have always been played – among them his posthumously premiered Four Last Songs. Soprano Marlis Petersen re-joins Bregenz Festival for this concert after being celebrated for her song recital last season.

    Conductor Dirk Kaftan
    Soprano Marlies Petersen

    • Charles Ives Central Park in the Dark
    • Richard Strauss Four Last Songs
    • Florence Price Symphony No. 1 E minor
  • Wiener Symphoniker, Marie Jacquot

    7 AUGUST 2023 – 7.30 PM, FESTSPIELHAUS

    In 1900, Jean Sibelius completed his first symphony which made him the most noted symphonic composer of Finland. In the words of the German music critic Ferdinand Pfohl it is a powerful, passionate and unexpectedly bold piece. Meanwhile, Maurice Ravel draws upon the past with his Valses nobles et sentimentales and brings back Vienna’s boppy Waltzes. Grażyna Bacewicz, who was a figurehead of the advance of Polish music, mixes traditional and modern music in her third violin concert. The audience can look forward to the Austrian violinist Benjamin Schmid, a regular with the Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg.

    Conductor Marie Jacquot
    Violin Benjamin Schmid

    • Maurice Ravel Valses nobles et sentimentales
    • Grażyna Bacewicz Concerto for Violin and orchestra No. 3
    • Jean Sibelius Symphony No. 1 E minor op. 39
  • Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg, Leo McFall

    20 AUGUST 2023 – 11 AM, FESTSPIELHAUS

    Ever since Walt Disney’s animation movie Fantasia, the whole world knows Paul Dukas’ dazzling scherzo The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. It is, without a doubt, a brilliant piece of music full of drama with strong musical themes and orchestral splendour. Dmitri Shostakovich’s second cello concerto was also immediately highly acclaimed when it premiered in 1966. People particularly loved the scherzo, for which the Russian composer adopted a remarkably grotesque humour and used the tunes of the Odessa-based street song Bread rolls, come buy my bread rolls. Compared to that, the dynamic themes and Bohemian melodies of Antonín Dvořák’s eighth symphony radiate unbroken optimism.

    Conductor Leo McFall
    Violoncello Kian Soltani

    • Paul Dukas The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Scherzo based on Goethe’s ballad
    • Dmitri Shostakovich Concerto for violoncello and orchestra No. 2 G minor, op. 126 
    • Antonín Dvořák Symphony No. 8 G major, op. 88