“It’s hot.” Those were the first words that Erwin Schrott, star bass-baritone from Uruguay, uttered on Saturday on the stage of the Salzkammergut Open Air in Toscanapark in front of the breathtaking backdrop of Traunsee and Traunstein – and they summed up the situation perfectly. Due to the threat of bad weather, the concert had been brought forward to the followingnoon summer heat.
But neither Erwin Schrott nor his wonderful stage partner Erica Eloff nor the Bruckner Orchestra under chief conductor Markus Poschner showed any signs of the strain of playing music under extreme conditions. They all refreshed the audience with a refreshing hit parade of opera, operetta and – thanks to Erwin Schrott – South American songs. The 1,600 listeners at the concert as part of the Salzkammergut Festival Weeks were enthusiastic and did not hold back with bravos and standing ovations.
While the audience was fanning their seats – and the smart star soloist was often filmed on a cell phone – the stage offered top performances. Markus Poschner led the orchestra through the program with (seemingly) lightness of touch, and the orchestra shone with a rich sound, particularly in the iconic “Hunting Scherzo” from Anton Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony. Erica Eloff, audience favorite at the Linz Music Theater, floated effortlessly through the most difficult parts and showed that she also has perfect command of the lighter music, such as the aria “Sounds of Home” from Johann Strauss’ operetta “Die Fledermaus”. Erwin Schrott played the perfect seducer in two arias from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”. Both of them were clearly enjoying playing, they left nothing to chance and flirted in the love duets. Only during Franz Lehar’s duet “Lippen schweigen” did Schrott briefly lose his lightness.
Photo: Rudi Gigler
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Photo: Rudi Gigler
The singer, who had performed in Verona the evening before, was all the more in his element in the South American part of the sold-out concert. He made hearts swoon with Consuelo Velasquez’s “Besame Mucho”, and the showman encouraged the audience – and conductor Poschner – to sing and dance along to Osvald Farres’ hit “Quizás, quizás, quizás”. A wonderful evening of light entertainment that came to a relaxed, laid-back end – just in time before the storm. On Sunday, ORF III will broadcast the second edition of the concert live from Toscana Park in Gmunden at 8:15 p.m.
Conclusion: Everything a perfect summer evening needs: breathtaking ambience, lively music and top-class stars
The further program the Salzkammergut Festival Weeks are available on festwochen-gmunden.at.
