Damour&The Good – Soundcheck at the festival location Superstadl/Foto: Susi Schmalz
From May 23 to June 1, 2025, the Oberpinzgau in the province of Salzburg became a space, a landscape, where art was to find completely new spaces. Forests and meadows, mountains and lakes, national park valleys, especially the Habachtal valley, villages and hay barns became a stage for ten days. The numerous events, which also focused on the interaction between environmental protection and art, were well attended.
The former Cistercian monastery of Eberbach is the perfect location for the performance of Carl Orff’s musical firework “Carmina Burana”. It was also chosen for the film adaptation of Umberto Eco’s “The Name of the Rose” from 300 monasteries when looking for a suitable medieval venue. It is not surprising that Carmina Burana has been fully booked three times at this year’s Rheingau Music Festival. This was also emphasised by Michael Herrmann, artistic director and managing director of the festival, in his welcoming speech in the basilica. The Rheingau landscape in which the monastery is nestled and the simple, three-aisled Romanesque basilica, built between 1136 and 1186, have a magical attraction.Continue reading “Carmina Burana – A musical firework”
Bruce Liu, Piano, accompanied by the hr-Sinfonieorchester conducted by Alain Altinoglu, in the Kurhaus of Wiesbaden, Friedrich-von-Thiersch-Saal/Foto: Ansgar Klostermann, RMF
The magnificent Friedrich-von-Thiersch-Saal in the Kurhaus of the Hessian capital Wiesbaden was the place where Bruce Liu, the 27-year-old Canadian pianist of Chinese origin, accompanied by the hr-sinfony Orchestra, conducted by Alain Altinoglu, showed off his skills on June 23, 2024, the second day of the opening concert of the Rheingau Music Festival 2024.
The brochure “How to meet the Germans” is designed to help foreigners better understand what to expect in Germany/photo: dpa-tmn
Germany wants to present itself as the perfect host for the 2024 European Championships. To help foreign fans and tourists adjust to the peculiarities of the people between Lake Constance and Buxtehude, Lufthansa has published a brochure that gives passengers a few insights into the country and its people before they arrive.
A CEO with a frown – Carsten Spohr/Photo: Lufhansa
Four out of six members of the Executive Board are leaving the Group almost simultaneously, and the Supervisory Board is also eliminating one Executive Board position entirely. Only the CEO Carsten Spohr and the former Chief Human Resources Officer Michael Niggemann will remain.
Lufthansa Group is heading record result in 2023/Photo: Lufthansa Group
Lufthansa posted a record result in the second quarter of 2023. 2023 should be one of the most successful in the Group’s history, according to the German airline. It tripled its profits compared with the previous year. Increased demand and higher ticket prices were responsible for the significant rise.
July 7th 2023: Wiesbaden Kurpark becomes Opera stage/Foto: Ansgar Klostermann
Bellini, Donizetti, Puccini and of course Verdi! The Orchestra e Coro Sinfonica di Milano under the direction of Claus Peter Flor, the Coro Sinfonica di Milano under the musical direction of Romano Gandolfi, the soprano Carmela Remigio and the tenor Davide Giusti made the evening an enjoyable experience. It was an atmospheric evening at the opera in a perfect setting, in the Kurpark in Wiesbaden.
With Hector Berlioz’s Ouverture ‘ Le Carnaval romain’, Edouard Lalo’s `Symphonie espagnole` and Francis Poulenc’s `Stabat Mater’, the Rheingau Music Festival started its 2023 season in the basilica of Eberbach Monastery in the Rheingau.
The hr-Sinfonieorchester, conducted by Alain Altinoglu, the MDR Rundfunkchor under the direction of Philipp Ahmann, the brilliant debut of the only 17-year-old Brazilian violin soloist Guido Sant’Anna and the powerful-voiced soprano Vannina Santoni delivered a true pleasure package for all senses.
The opening concert began with Hector Berlioz’s popular overture “Le carnaval romain.” In this lively concert piece, which lasted about ten minutes, Berlioz used themes from his opéra-comique “Benvenuto Cellini.” Fancy rhythms correspond here with motifs of the carnival and cheerfully dancing people. Different tempi and dynamics convey many moods.
Virtuoso energetic playing in a red silk shirt
Édouard Lalo’s “Symphonie espagnole (op. 21, D minor),” which lasted about half an hour, conveyed special intensity. The 17-year-old Brazilian Guido Sant’Anna, who won the renowned International Fritz Kreisler Violin Competition in Vienna in September 2022, was engaged as solo violinist. This year he received a scholarship to study at the Kronberg Academy. With his virtuosic and energetic playing, wearing a striking red silk shirt, he immediately captured the audience completely. The climax was the fourth movement: the initial brass notes were followed by an almost intimate playing of the solo violin.
Chief conductor Alain Altinoglu ensured a successful dialogue between the hr-Sinfonieorchester and Guido Sant’Anna during the “Symphonie espagnole”. The audience, extremly clapped for a solo encore: the second movement “Dance roustique” from the Sonata No. 5 in G major (“The Dawn”) by the Belgian violinist, composer and conductor Eugène Ysaÿe.
Intensity and power of a beautiful voice
After the intermission, Francis Poulenc’s “Stabat Mater” was played, a religious work that fits perfectly into the basilica of Eberbach Monastery. The intercessory prayer is about the mother of Jesus in her pain for the crucified Jesus. There are numerous settings of the medieval poem, for example by Charpentier, Haydn, Rossini, Schubert, Verdi or Vivaldi. In the work, which is divided into twelve sequences, the choir takes center stage. The MDR Rundfunkchor, conducted by Philipp Ahmann, conveyed the prayer with high intensity.
The French soprano Vannina Santoni convinced with her special charisma and the intensity and power of her beautiful voice.
The French soprano Vannina Santoni convinced in the sequences “Vidit suum dulcem Natum”, “Fac, ut portem Christi mortem” and the final “Quando corpus morietur” with her special charisma and the intensity and power of her beautiful voice.
Former German President Joachim Gauck asked in his ceremonial address. “Are we allowed to rejoice in times like these? His answer: “Of course, what faith enables me to do, music also enables me to do. ” But the power and beauty of music is not an act of escaping the world. Art cannot undo human abysses, but it has the power to transform, to bring about changes and unexpected things.
Johanna Wenninger-Muhr
The hr Symphony Orchestra and the MDR Radio Choir Founded in 1929, the hr-Sinfonieorchester is famous for its dynamic playing culture and musical excellence. Since 2021, it has been led by 48-year-old Paris-born principal conductor Alain Altinoglu. The MDR Rundfunkchor, since January 2020 conducted by Philipp Ahmann, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in the 2023/24 season, is the largest radio choir of the public broadcaster.
