A musical – literary portrait: a reading from Egon Lustgarten’s captivating texts, which come from his letters, diaries and writings, accompanied by his music; Songs, arias, piano pieces and chamber music works.
Contributors: Gregory von Leitis, reading Michael Lahr from Leitis, reading Theresa Krügl, soprano Xiao Bai, baritone Jelena Pesic, piano Yumeko Kawakami, piano
Program: Works by Egon Lustgarten
Moderation: Gerold Gruber, founder of exil.arte and head of the Exilarte Center of the mdw
This evening is dedicated to the cello and piano sonatas of Francis Poulenc and Robert Fürstenthal, two masters of the 20th century: one renowned, the other remaining largely undiscovered until now. Poulenc’s 1948 Cello Sonata captivates with its dynamic contrasts and profound lyricism, blending classical elegance with contemporary sensitivity. Fürstenthal’s sonatas, composed in exile in the United States, are imbued with deep nostalgia and emotion. They mark his return to music-making after a long silence, conveying feelings of hope and sorrow with great intensity.
Thursday, January 23rd, 2024, 7 p.m. Palais Ehrbar – small Ehrbar Saal Mühlgasse 28 1040 Vienna
In this extraordinary song recital, baritone Ryan Hugh Ross, pianist Daniel Rieppel and violinist Risa Schuchter the fascinating works of the composer Julius Bürger. You can hear the melodies recorded by the renowned tenor Joseph Schmidt and performed in the film “A Song Goes Around the World”, such as “Zigeunerlied” and “Launisches Glück”, as well as premieres from Bürger’s extensive work, which spanned 73 years.
Before the concert, a film documentary Julius Bürger – expelled and rediscovered. A Viennese composer returns will provide insight into the life and work of the composer. Internationally successful, Bürger made his mark in the USA, where in 1984 he received the University of Indiana Composition Prize for his “Variations on a Theme by C. Ph. E. Bach.” This documentation was created in connection with the first performance of Julius Bürger’s orchestral works in Vienna, in August 2023 at the ORF’s Great Broadcasting Hall with the RSO under the direction of Gottfried Rabl.
Monday, September 16th, 2024, 7 p.m. Palais Ehrbar – small Ehrbar Saal Mühlgasse 28 1040 Vienna
Concert series “Echo of the Unheard” | June 18, 2024 I Arnold Schönberg and Wolfgang Fraenkel
Arnold Schönberg and Wolfgang Fraenkel are historically linked: two progressive Jewish composers who fled Europe with the rise of the Nazis. Schönberg came to the United States while the younger Fraenkel spent eight years in Shanghai, where he was an important teacher and cultural force. This concert compares these two strong personalities through two of their string quartets. Fraenkel’s quartet contains a dedication to the much admired Schönberg.
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
Tuesday, June 18, 2024, 7 p.m. Palais Ehrbar – small Ehrbar Saal Mühlgasse 28 1040 Vienna
The young woodwind quintet Windobona was founded in the summer of 2020 during the Angelika Prokopp Summer Academy of the Vienna Philharmonic. Most members study at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and receive chamber music lessons from Gottfried Pokorny. They are active both nationally and internationally in chamber music and renowned orchestras, which contributes to valuable experience that they now use in the quintet. The ensemble regularly gives concerts throughout Austria, creates its own programs, performs at various events, works on commissioned compositions and plays at prestigious music festivals such as the Carinthian Summer. In 2022 they won 1st prize at the 4th International Cibulka Competition in Graz.
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
Monday, March 18, 2024, 7 p.m. Palais Ehrbar – small Ehrbar Saal Mühlgasse 28 1040 Vienna
Pianist Linda Leine and soprano Pia Davila have been working together steadily since fall 2014. This exciting journey began with the 2015 “Schubert and Modernism” competition in Graz, where the duo received third prize. Since then it has been playing throughout Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In Schwerin in 2016, the musicians won first prize in the Ostracized Music Competition – for both of them the beginning of working with music by ostracized composers. Since then, Linda Leine and Pia Davila have developed a wide repertoire, the core pieces of which can now be heard on the CD. There are various reasons why the musicians devote themselves particularly to this topic. In addition to the fantastic musical quality that the often unknown works and texts have, it is important to the two artists to make a social contribution through their profession. While Linda Leine learned the stories of her own Jewish family on her father’s side – her grandfather was interned in several German concentration camps and survived the Holocaust – for Pia Davila, cultivating memory for a democratic and peaceful life in the future is an important concern. For many years she was a member of the “Freundeskreis KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme e.V.” and her work as part of the guest student program for refugees at the Hamburg University of Music and Theater was honored with an invitation to the 2019 New Year’s reception with the Federal President at Bellevue Palace.
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
(c) Peter Kogoj
Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 7 p.m. Palais Ehrbar – small Ehrbar Saal Mühlgasse 28 1040 Vienna
Piano trios are an important part of the compositional work of André Singer and Hans Winterberg. The planned concert evening will feature the two still largely unknown but musically fascinating trios, interpreted by pianist David Hausknecht, violinist Floris Willem and cellist Cristina Basili.
Tuesday, December 12, 2023, 7 p.m. Palais Ehrbar – small Ehrbar Saal Mühlgasse 28 1040 Vienna
The renowned duo – cellist Vida Vujic and pianist Sybilla Konstantinova – is dedicated to the cello sonatas of Walter Würzburger and Walter Bricht, whose papers are in the archives of the Exilarte Center
