cultural
On July 5th, “Classic under the Stars” will take place for the 15th time in Göttweig, followed by “Classic in the Alps” in Kitzbühel for the tenth time on July 8th. Soprano and initiator Elina Garanca is planning some personal premieres for the anniversary events.
The fact that the courtyard of Göttweig Abbey might be used as a concert stage seemed inconceivable to some in the early days. It is now the 15th anniversary of the first “Classic under the Stars” concert. Even the initiator didn’t expect this anniversary: ”When we first started, we didn’t think that classic under the stars would develop into something like this. But we are incredibly proud that interest has actually grown from year to year.”
As always with “Classic under the Stars”, the program offers a lot of variety, from classic arias to evergreens. There will be pieces that are already known from the past 15 “Classic under the Stars” years, as well as personal premieres, it said at the program presentation on Tuesday.
From “Vissi d’arte” to “New York, New York”
The musical program was put together by Elina Garanca’s husband Karel Mark Chichon, who will conduct the symphony orchestra of the Vienna Volksoper on both evenings: “We agreed that Elina would sing one of the most important and probably also one of the most demanding arias that ever existed – namely ‘Vissi d’arte’ from Toska.”
This is something new and, according to Chichon, a “world premiere here in Austria”. At the press conference, he also highlighted the final medley of the two evenings: “So much in advance: it will crown the concert.” Under the title “Around the World”, the medley is intended to combine well-known songs from all over the world, including Frank Sinatra’s “My Way ‘ and ‘New York, New York’, but also classics from Austria.
24-year-old on stage with Garanca
There will also be another premiere – a quartet with Elina Garanca and three special guests: soprano Eleonora Buratto, tenor Seokjong Baek and the winner of this year’s Elina Garanca’s young talent competition, 24-year-old bass singer Felix Pacher. The final audition of the competition only took place immediately before the press event on Tuesday – the freshly awarded prize winner only found out regarding the victory shortly before his interview. “These will certainly be some very instructive hours, which I’m really looking forward to,” he said in a first reaction. “I’m just beginning to realize all of this, that this is really going to happen. That’s really cool!”
