„Today, Lower Austria is a country of culture that makes art and culture possible in every corner of the country.”
After the successful start of the open-air season with the summer night gala in June and the musical warm-up with the summer concerts and the Grafenegg Academy, the Grafenegg Festival 2022 opened at the Wolkenturm yesterday evening.
The program for the evening included a concert performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Fidelio” as a co-production of the Gstaad Menuhin Festival and the Grafenegg Festival. Jonas Kaufmann was in the leading role as Florestan on stage, Sinéad Campbell-Wallace embodied Leonore. Jaap van Zweden, chief conductor of the New York Philharmonic since 2018, conducted the orchestra of the renowned Swiss festival at the Wolkenturm. Peter Simonischek took on the role of speaker.
Provincial Governor Johanna Mikl-Leiter: “Today, Lower Austria is a cultural region that makes art and culture possible in every corner of the country. Both regional offers and cultural beacons such as the Grafenegg Festival shine far beyond the national borders. This is thanks to the cooperation and commitment of many people, such as Rudolf Buchbinder, the artistic director of the Grafenegg Festival. Today, guests from all over the world witnessed top artistic performances by Jonas Kaufmann, Sinéad Campbell-Wallace, the Gstaad Festival Orchestra and the Brno Philharmonic Choir – artistic highlights that we in the cultural state of Lower Austria can be proud of.”
Rudolf Buchbinder, artistic director of the festival said: “I am pleased that we were finally able to catch up on what was actually planned for the Beethoven year 2020: Beethoven’s only opera on the cloud tower with a dream cast. This grandiose start will now be followed by a large number of other highlights until September 4th – including concerts with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under Manfred Honeck and with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle.”
Philipp Stein, Managing Director of Grafenegg Kulturbetriebsgesellschaft mbH added: “Following the summer concerts and the Grafenegg Academy in July, the opening ceremony of the Grafenegg Festival took place today. Our Composer in Residence this year is the internationally acclaimed Austrian composer Georg Friedrich Haas, whose Second Violin Concerto will be played in Austria for the first time. On the last Sunday of the festival, his ‘Park Music for Grafenegg’ will be premiered in the castle park with free admission – played by 160 wind musicians from all over Lower Austria.
