Among the ten festival locations this time is the castle in St. Peter in der Au (district of Amstetten), the birthplace of the operetta composer Carl Zeller. The other serenade concerts will take place in the Schubert memorial at Atzenbrugg Castle, in the Pleyel cultural center in Ruppersthal (both in the Tulln district), in the Laxenburg Castle Theater (in the Mödling district), in the Ruprechtshofen ballroom (in the Melk district), in Perchtoldsdorf Castle (in the Mödling district), in Schönberg -Haus Mödling, in Haydn’s birthplace in Rohrau (Bruck an der Leitha district), in the Haus der Kunst in Baden and in the Ernst Krenek Forum in Krems. The admission prices vary for the individual concerts, a ticket costs between 20 and 31 euros.
The concert cycle is performed by well-known singers such as Bo Skovhus, Martina Serafin and Hila Fahima, by audience favorites known from theater stages, film and television, such as Katharina Stemberger, Andrea Eckert, Ulrich Reinthaller and Martin Schwab, but also by virtuosos such as the violinist Yury Revich , accordionist Nikola Djoric and pianists Daniel Heide and Matthias Fletzberger. The serenade concerts also offer a stage for the next generation, such as the sopranos Nicole Lubinger and Yibao Chen and the tenor David Kerber.
Where Carl Zeller and Franz Schubert composed
This year’s concert cycle will open on August 28th at St. Peter Castle in der Au. From 6 p.m. on the occasion of the 180th birthday of the famous son of the market town and composer of the operetta “The Bird Dealer”, songs and arias by Carl Zeller, supplemented with works by Franz Lehár and Robert Stolz, will be heard there. The Carl Zeller Serenade is designed by Nicole Lubinger, Michael Wagner, Andrea Linsbauer and Ulla Pilz.
On September 4th, Bo Skovhus, accompanied by Nikola Djoric on accordion, will sing the song cycle “Winterreise” at the Schubert Serenade in the Schubert Memorial at Schloss Atzenbrugg. At the Pleyel Serenade on September 11 in the Pleyel Cultural Center in Ruppersthal, David Kerber, Julian Kainrath, Andrea Wild and Emre Yavuz will juxtapose works by the Genius Loci with compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven and Anton Diabelli.
From Laxenburg to Mödling, from Rohrau to Krems
The castle serenade on September 18 at the Laxenburg Castle Theater goes “back to the roots”, where Hila Fahima, Yury Revich and Kristin Okerlund present music by Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Gustav Mahler and Yury Revich as well as songs from Israel.
The program for the Randhartinger Serenade on September 25 in the Festsaal Ruprechtshofen only includes compositions that Benedikt Randhartinger composed when he retired. These world premieres will be contrasted with works by Franz Schubert, Anselm Hüttenbrenner, Johann Herbeck, Franz Liszt and Joseph Haydn as well as texts from the Biedermeier period.
The concert cycle is completed by the Hugo Wolf Serenade on October 2nd in Perchtoldsdorf Castle with Martina Serafin, Matthias Fletzberger and Andrea Eckert, the Schönberg Serenade with Günther Haumer, Daniel Heide and Martin Schwab on October 9th in the Schönberg House Mödling, the Joseph Haydn Matinee on October 16 in the Haydn birthplace in Rohrau, the Beethoven Matinee with Liviu Holender, Matthias Fletzberger and Julia Stemberger on October 23 in the Haus der Kunst in Baden, and the Krenek Serenade on October 30 in the Ernst Krenek Forum Krems.
Composers who shaped the country
Michael Linsbauer, Artistic Director of the Serenade Concerts of the State of Lower Austria, says regarding the program for 2022: “Thanks to our host communities and cooperation partners, the audience can look forward to a series of events in the 62nd year of the Serenade Concerts, with which all composers are honored, the Lower Austria artistic shaped and culturally enriched.”
Some of the most important composers of music history, but also of the present, were born in Lower Austria, lived and worked here, according to Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner (ÖVP): “And also the list of performers who have performed at the serenade concerts for 62 years, reads like a who’s who of the international music elite. Experiencing such stars as part of the musicians’ memorials in Lower Austria makes this concert series an extraordinary artistic experience.”
Founded in 1960 and thus in existence for 62 years, the serenade concerts of the state of Lower Austria are the oldest concert series in the state. “The goal was and is to draw the attention of a public interested in classical music to original music-historical locations as well as historical and contemporary musicians’ memorials by means of top-class concert events,” explains Michael Linsbauer, artistic director of the Haydn region of Lower Austria, who took over responsibility for the content of the concert series in 2011 .
