13.10.2015: Kuhn named "Artist of the Year" in China

Just before the performance of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger on October 9, 2015 in the Poly Theater in Beijing, China, Gustav Kuhn was named “Artist of the Year” for his contributions to music in China. “Maestro Kuhn’s achievements with the Parsifal production in October 2013 and with this year’s Chinese premieres of Meistersinger and Tristan have become a world-wide phenomenon: His name is mentioned in the same breath with the works of Richard Wagner,” says Yu Long, Artistic Director of the Beijing Music Festival and one of the most important and influential conductors in China.

The Beijing Music Festival was obviously a perfect choice for this very first performance of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: The performance was completely sold-out, as was Tristan und Isolde two days later. When the piece ended, 1404 audience members rewarded the singers, chorus, and orchestra with thunderous applause. The Beijing audience has longed for more than Peking-Opera for quite some time. The people here love European music and worship the works of the great western composers. It seems that they are particularly fond of Wagner.

Although the audience remained concentrated for the entire performance, the behavior of the Chinese audience would be considered unusual in European opera houses: Photographs are constantly made with cell phones and tablets during the performance and audience members often leave the auditorium or change seats. Conversations are held. This would be difficult for a European audience member to accept. But at the end of the performance, the only thing that matters is the enthusiasm and loud applause. There was plenty of that!  

 

02.08.2015: Successful summer season ends

The successful summer season of the Tyroler Festspiele Erl closes today with a sold-out performance of Richard Wagner’s Götterdämmerung. This year’s balance sheet compares favorably with successful reports from past years. From July 9 to August 2, 22,000 audience members attended ten sold-out performances and fifteen well-attended performances. The occupancy rate was circa 93% for the main program (opera/concert) and 82% overall. (chamber music)
While Wagner’s Ring der Nibelungen (presented twice in four consecutive days) and Verdi’s Messa da Requiem were mainstays of the program; the chamber music program, folk music group ALMA, and guitar evening with Julia Malischig were also popular events in the Festspielhaus. Each event was attended by approximately 600 audience members.
The festival’s winter season will continue as usual on December 26, 2015. Ticket sales are progressing well, particularly for Verdi’s Nabucco and Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Nearly 50% of the tickets have already been sold. In the meantime, ZWISCHEN/ZEIT, “Alpenländisch-Chinesischen Konzertagen” will take place in the Festspielhaus on September 17 and 18, 2015.
The Macao Orchestra will build a bridge to European high culture on Thursday, September 17, 2015, with Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto and Bruckner’s Sixth Symphony, while the “Alpenländisch-Chinesischen Kammermusik” chamber music groups explore musical borderlands of two opposing cultures on Friday, September 18, 2015. The regional development of various musical styles will be presented in an international context. In addition, the Münchner Philharmoniker will present a chamber music series from November 7, 2015 at the Festspielhaus Erl.
Upcoming performances of the Tyroler Festspiele Erl will take place far from home in Beijing and Shanghai. The first fully staged productions in China of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Tristan und Isolde will be performed at the Poly Theater in Beijing, followed one week later by the Ring in 24 hours. 
 

06.01.2015: Winter festival has established itself
Today, with the last soft melancholy tone of Tschaikowsky’s well known 6th symphony in B minor, the Pathétique, the third winter season of the Tyrol Festival Erl came to an end with a sold out house. In the third year of the winter festival, in the festival house built by the festival’s president Hans Peter Haselsteiner, the festival can be very proud of its achievement in developing from a Wagner festival to an established fixture over the Christmas holidays and New Year in Erl. The director of the Festival, Gustav Kuhn, gave his verdict on the very satisfactory finial balance at the end of the winter season “I believe we can persuade people that it is also meaningful not to spend the whole holiday period in front of the fire or skiing, but to go to an opera or concert."
As in the summer festival the four opera productions were the out and out success of the Winter Tyrol Festival Erl, with 98% of the tickets sold. The last production of the Da Ponte cycle was that of Gustav Kuhn’s production of “Cosi van Tutti”. Apart from this there were two performances of Beethoven’s opera “Fidelio” produced by the sculptor and stage designer Alexander Polzin. The music direction was in the proven safe hands of Gustav Kuhn, to the jubilation of the public.
The symphony concerts as well as the special feature were very well received. The music band “Franui” presented a homage to Robert Scumann as one of the 7 sold out events of the winter season. These included a New Year’s Eve concert, as well as a New Years Day concert, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Weihnachts oratorio on the 4th Sunday in Advent, and Jasminka Stacul performing Beethoven’s 3rd piano concerto in C minor in the previously mentioned final concert of the festival.
The income for the Winter Tyrol Festival Erl 2014 is well over a half million euros.  

Summer 2015: Wagner forever
All those who experienced the 24-Hour-Ring in the summer of 2014 probably asked themselves at the time how this event could be surpassed.  Gustav Kuhn as artistic leader of the Tyrol Festival Erl consciously pose the provocative counter question: why do we even have to think of trying to surpass this unique event?  One thing is clear: we are not going to subject ourselves to any unrealistic expectations, and so for the summer of 2015 we have compiled a programme that not only contains many surprises but indeed even has the potential to surpass the summer season of 2014 which was considered unique.
This begins with the fact that we are now going to try out Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde in the Festspielhaus after all.  Then, without further ado, we are going to include Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in the programme again – as usual in the Passionsspielhaus – and round off the Wagner programme with two complete Ring cycles on four successive days from Thursday to Sunday.  Wagner ten times, once even as a Sunday morning performance.  And what do we have to complement this in concert performances?  An opening ceremony, part of which will be staged with a piece entitled Eloquent Men directed by none other than Katja Czellnik; the almost obligatory Franui session on the first Sunday as a morning concert, and Verdi’s Requiem conducted by Maestro Gustav Kuhn in the Passionsspielhaus.
If we could, we would certainly like to present this all in 24 hours.  However, as for us the achievements are holier than hype, all works are performed unabridged and in full splendour, spread out over a good four weeks from 9 July to 2 August 2015.  Visitors could come and settle in the region for the entire season because we feel that if you leave, you might miss something. The days between the so-called programme highlights on the weekends – in the case of the Ring these are somewhat extended – also have many very tempting specialities. Thus it is simply absurd to make any kind of differentiation between the main programme and the chamber music series.
www.tiroler-festspiele.at

 

26.10.2014: NEUE STIMMEN - Masterclass

NEUE STIMMEN’s 10th International Master Class took place from October 18 to 25, 2014, in Gütersloh, Germany. The Master Classes were launched by NEUE STIMMEN President Liz Mohn and Artistic Director Gustav Kuhn in 1997, and quickly became an important addition to the competition.

 

Bertelsmann Stiftung founded the NEUE STIMMEN Master Class, which has taken place on alternate years to the competition since 1997, with the aim of promoting and supporting particularly talented young singers once the competition is over. Many participants in the competition are not yet advanced enough in their personal, artistic and vocal development to win a prize. As part of this one-week Master Class, the singers who are most deserving of support are given the opportunity work under the instruction of international artists to improve their vocal performance, musical expression, song interpretation, stage presence and other musical skills such as self-management, networking and interview training. We ask all finalists in the competition to fill out a questionnaire, which we then use to find out exactly what participants want from the training program and integrate the results into the framework of future master classes. This way, particularly talented singers are given the opportunity to perfect and showcase their skills in concerts, learn from one another, establish networks and fill the gaps in their vocal training. The Master Class also fosters connections between music directors and singers, festival directors and agents.

 

In order to ensure long-term success and continuous adaptation/optimization of the Master Class program, the singers’ achievements and progress are monitored and recorded before, during and after the Master Class. 2010 was the first year a public gala concert was held in the new Theater Gütersloh after the traditional closing concert in the Bertelsmann Stiftung building. The gala concert was well received by the public and will therefore take place as part of the 2012 program in the form of an additional public concert. Such a concert enables even more people to get involved in the culture of opera singing and shares this cultural tradition with a wide audience.

 

www.neue-stimmen.de

 

09.07.2014: Interview with Gustav Kuhn

Shortly after the opening of the Summer Tyrol Festival Erl 2014 on Thursday morning the 10th July 2014, Gustav Kuhn gave an interview to Christane Fasching for the Tiroler Tageszeitung. Of particular interest was the forthcoming “24 Hour Ring” and the extreme stress from all sides, in a positive way.

 

The 24 hour Ring enjoys a come back this year. What is the biggest challenge in this mammoth project?

The orchestra has to overcome the greatest challenge. Here I would like to emphasize that every musician has taken on this challenge freely. Nobody is forced to play in the “24 Hour Ring”. For the audience it is also a challenge especially physically. Apart from a small break, they must sit for a whole day. That is an achievement in its self. Conducting is not so tiring when you are relaxed. I was, until 1998, a member of the Austrian olympic sailing team and when training in heat and under extreme  stress I was amazingly fit. But that’s no great surprise: When you conduct at Verona in the Arena, it’s sometimes hotter than on the water. Physically the ring is not that difficult for me, but it is mentally very exhausting. The point of the exercise at the end of the day is that at the conclusion, the orchestra, the singers, the audience and the conductor are one - and that is only achieved through a strenuous effort.

Why are you taking on this Wagner adventure again?

I’m not doing it for me, but for Hans Peter Hasselsteiner who is 70 this year. I wanted to give him something that nobody else could give him. Considering what he has done, and what he does, for the Tyrol Festival Erl, I felt that the Tyrol Festival Erl should do something for him. His eyes really did shine as I explained to him we were going to include the “24 Hour Ring” for him in the program.

Are there many in the audience taking on this marathon for a second time?

Yes there are. However there are visitors, who are total Erl fans but have no desire to see the “24 Hour Ring” a second time because they are afraid the absolute experience of the “24 Hour Ring” in 2005 will be ruined.

Do you get your self through this marathon of an evening drinking coffee and energy drinks?

For heaven’s sake no: The energy comes luckily from with in.

Between “Siegfried”, which ends at 4:30 and Götterdämmerung, which begins at 11:00, there are a couple of hours break. Can you manage to get some sleep or are you too wound up?

In my carrier I have learnt some techniques to slow the heart rate down a little, even when I’ve been very agitated. After Siegfried I am very much on a high, but after a half an hour everything has calmed down. I can guarantee you, however, that I will sleep between 6 and 7 hours like a baby, and after a shower I’ll be fit again and looking forward to Götterdämmerung.

And how will the audience use the interval?

In 2005 it was the case that they were split. One part stayed at the theatre and some of those slept in the prepared deck chairs. Others went gaily for a pint, while the rest took themselves off exhausted to bed to get a couple of hours sleep. Amazingly for the Götterdämmerung performance everybody was present. (laughing)

And how did the audience react after the marathon was over?

It was unbelievable. 20 minutes before the end I felt that a special moment had arrived. The orchestra had out classed itself, it was really an amazing atmosphere. As I beat the last cord there was a deadly silence, and I thought “Oh lord have they all gone home, or are they all asleep?” But that was not the case: The moment was such that applause was not called for at this point, it didn’t fit to the situation. A few minutes later however it began and lasted over half an hour.

Should one be embarrassed if one falls asleep during the “24 Hour Ring”?

Good lord no! It’s clear that one will occasionally dose off. Siegfried is in any case hard work especially the second act! I think Wagner would be chuckling in heaven to see how the folk are nodding off. It’s practically forced. If I were not conducting I would definitely be asleep. (laugh) but no worries I’ll stay awake.

Can you image putting a 24 Hour Ring together for a third time?

For sure not with me! (laugh)

 

20.04.2014: Beginning of rehearsals in Erl

The rehearsals for Wagner's Ring in Erl started with a special performance: All the singers celebrated the brithday of Sixtus Lanner - President of the Friends of Tyrol Festival Erl - by singing "Happy Birthday" for him on the phone. After that Gustav Kuhn welcomed everybody at the Festspilehaus which will be used the first weeks for rehearsing due to the low temperature at the original place where the Ring will be staged this summer as usual - at Passionsspielhaus. In there the technical staff is working on the light an the original settings to prepare everything for the rehearsals there after the arrival of the orchestra on May 24th.

 

Wagner’s Ring is central to the programme of the Tyrol Festival in Erl in summer 2014 but one of Austria’s most important composers is also prominently featured: Anton Bruckner.  His works have frequently formed a major part of the festival repertoire and so the analysis of his symphonies is a logical consequence of our work and what we consider to be our mission.

 

In the opening concert on 10 July 2014 Bruckner’s Te Deum – mentioned by the composer as a complement to his unfinished Ninth Symphony – will be performed together with Helgoland, his last completed work but hardly known.  In the morning concerts on the first three festival Sundays we present cyclical companions to Wagner’s Ring. Bruckner’s Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Symphonies are musically so influenced by the sound of the Ring that Bruckner no longer wanted to dispense with the Wagner tubas.  Palestrina’s compositional technique amalgamates with the specific sound of a tuba as intended by Richard Wagner.
 

18.03.2014: The next winter season 14/15:

From 26 December 2014 until 6 January 2015 the Tyrol Festival Erl presents a total of four new opera productions, five orchestral concerts, a song recital and a concert by the musicbanda Franui. As stage director and conductor Gustav Kuhn brings to an end his Mozart Da Ponte cycle with a production of Così fan tutte; the internationally celebrated sculptor, stage designer and man of the theatre Alexander Polzin directs Beethoven’s Fidelio.

 

Gustav Kuhn conducts the two performances of Fidelio but for three of the five orchestral concerts as well as for an additional opera evening that actually goes beyond the bounds of opera he hands over the baton to three young talented conductors. They have been trained by him, and in the period of artistic preparation that lies ahead the maestro will be keeping a careful watch over them. Since the beginning of the festival Tito Ceccherini has made a major artistic contribution to many seasons in Erl, conducting and performing with his Ensemble Risognanze, and he now takes on a central role. In December 2012 he conducted Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle for the opening of the Festspielhaus; in two morning concerts next winter he confronts works from the Viennese Classical period, represented by Mozart and Haydn, with modern classical works by Béla Bartók. Star pianist Davide Cabassi is the soloist in Mozart’s Piano Concerto in B flat major, K. 450.

 

It goes without saying that the New Year’s Concert and the morning concert at the end of the festival on 6 January 2015 are and remain in the hands of Maestro Gustav Kuhn. He acts both as master of ceremonies, making witty and informative comments about the scintillating pieces from the time of the Strauss dynasty, and as conductor, and from the very first year successfully established the New Year’s Concert in the festival calendar. Now in the third year we can safely speak about a firm tradition at the Tyrol Festival in Erl. Tchaikovsky’s magnificent Symphony No. 6 in B minor, ‘Pathetique’, brings the season to a close, rounded off as in the previous festival winter by the intensive preoccupation with Anton Webern’s œuvre in the form of his Passacaglia and Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto with Jasminka Stančul as soloist on the Fazioli piano.

 

Learn more and get tickets for the winter season at

www.tiroler-festspiele.at

 

06.01.2014: Successfull Winter Season

The second winter season of Tyrolean Festival Erl ended today with the performance of parts IV till VI of Bach's Christmas Oratorio. The total percentage of seats sold for the ten main performances - 4 opera performances and 6 concerts - could be raised up to 98,62%, the gross income of nearly 700.000 Euro means an 100.000 Euros boost compared to the year before. 7 performances were totally sold out, in total 8.324 visitors had the pleasure of the musical alternative to skiing and all the festivities around Christmas and New Year. The success of the second winter season prooves, that the attraction of the Festival House in combination with opera performances and concerts during the period of December, 26th, and January, 6th, is an important enrichment for the Tyrolean and also the international festival calender.

www.tiroler-festspiele.at

 

09.11.2013: WAGNER, BRUCKNER AND MORE

Wagner’s Ring is central to the programme of the Tyrol Festival in Erl in summer 2014 but one of Austria’s most important composers is also prominently featured: Anton Bruckner.  His works have frequently formed a major part of the festival repertoire and so the analysis of his symphonies is a logical consequence of our work and what we consider to be our mission. In the opening concert on 10 July 2014 Bruckner’s "Te Deum" – mentioned by the composer as a complement to his never finished Ninth Symphony – will be performed together with "Helgoland", his last completed work but hardly known.  In the morning concerts on the first three festival Sundays we present cyclical companions to Wagner’s Ring. Bruckner’s Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Symphonies are musically so influenced by the sound of the Ring that Bruckner no longer wanted to dispense with the Wagner tubas.  Palestrina’s compositional technique amalgamates with the specific sound of a tuba as intended by Richard Wagner.

 

For the first time ever in summer 2014 both festival halls, the Passionsspielhaus and the Festspielhaus, will be used as performance venues – this will be particularly beneficial for chamber music. The multi-faceted and entertaining series of concerts is presented this year in the Festspielhaus from 14 July 2014 from Monday to Thursday (apart from 30 July 2014) and the exceptional acoustics are expected to enhance the performance of chamber music. The programme presents many well-known groups and artists who enjoy crossing between classical, jazz and folk music in their own individual way and featuring their own preferences and enthusiasms.

 

Read MORE here...

 

28.07.2013: SUCCESSFUL SUMMER SEASON

Sunday, the 28th July 2013, saw the final concert of this years Tyrol Festival Erl. It consisted of a world premier by the 90 year old Gerhard Wimberger and a performance of Beethoven’s 9th symphony. There is not only good reason to celebrate the unique atmosphere created by the festival house in it’s inaugural summer festival parallel to the highly acclaimed passion play in the festival centre Erl, but also the incredible statistics: All 13 events - including the opening concert, 2 performances of Verdi’s operas “Rigoletto”, “Il travatore” and “La traviata”, a staging of “Nabucco” as well as the 5 “Beethoven PLUS Concerts” - were totally sold out. All told 10,891 people have attended the Tyrol Festival Erl in the summer of 2013. A pretax income of 915.990€

 

One must have an optimistic glance at the online booking system of the Tyrol Festival Erl. In as much as the forth coming concerts of the Münchner Philharmoniker are well anchored in the minds of the Tyrol public and neighboring region of Bavaria as an integral part of the cultural scene of Tyrol, the pre-sale of tickets for the two “Rings” in the summer of 2014 plus a extra performance of “Walküre” and the HPH-24-hour-Ring-Cycle, in celebration of the Festival’s president, Hans Peter Haselsteiner, 70th birthday, is an undisputed must. Already with a year to go almost 50% of the tickets are sold (6,375 tickets). Naturally the Intendant, Maestro Gustav Kuhn, is  firstly dedicating himself to the up-coming winter festival.

 

WORLD PREMIER OF WIMBERGER

In addition to combining all Beethoven symphonies with the most popular Verdi operas in one program, Gustav Kuhn set up the direct connection of both composers to nowadays by a world premier in the last concert of the summer season of Tyrolean Festival Erl on Sunday July, 28th: Beside Beethoven's famous Symphony No. 9 he will present Gerhard Wimberger's "Klangwege" [Trails of sound] - a piece for orchestra, that he conducts in honour of the composer's 90th birthday [August, 30th].

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Finished 14 years ago, the work describes "trails of sounds of different kind and style [sound, harmony, rythm, expression, atmosphere]". The titel reflects the plural meaning of itself and stands for the different possibilities of an orchestra: intensive strokes as well as quiet parts confronting difficult harmonic stuctures e.g. with jazz music.

 

THE SECOND WINTER SEASON

The winter season of the Tyrolean Festival Erl, 26th December 2013 to the 6th January 2014,returns with some changes that reflect important aspects of its work and self-image. ​​​​​​​​​Since we don’t consider the winter festival to be an independent event but rather as a continuation of the summer festival

While Gustav Kuhn attends to "Don Giovanni" in his customary dual role as director and conductor, he leaves "Tosca" in the capable hands of Angelika Ladurner, the elected director of the Komödienspiele Porcia, a comedy festival.

With Giacomo Puccini’s "Tosca" – also a new production – the Festival hopes to match the success of the Hall opera production from the summer of 2012.

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The addtion of two major works by Ludwig van Beethoven, his piano concertos No. 4 and No. 5, interpreted by Jasminka Stančul, combined with the cycle of his nine symphonies in the 2013 summer season, gives the continuality between the festivals. The close relationship between the programs is just another reason to see the summer and the winter seasons as a continuum.

 

CULTRUAL BRAND OF THE MONTH

​The Tyrolean Festival Erl has been awarded cultural brand of the month in January by Causales - the society for cultural marketing and sponsoring in Berlin. The festival, which is only 15 years old, has managed to become not only an artistic hotspot on the international festival scene, but also a worldwide renowned brand.

Of course the new festival building and the international press coverage of the opening season in December 2012 had great influence on this decision. But the corporate design itself - realized and developed continuously by Andreas Schett and his agency for communication and design "circus" - is strong and unique enough to represent the Tyrolean Festival Erl as a special and high class brand.

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Being the cultural brand of the month in January is very important for the festival because Causales is also responsable for nominating and awarding the Cultural Brand of the Year Award. We really appreciate the honour and would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Causales on their 10 year anniversary in 2013!

 

A TYROLEAN WINTER'S TALE
The first winter season of Tyrolean Festival Erl ended with a sold out performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. Thus it was paradigmatic for the Winter's Tale that took place from December 26th in Erl. With an opening concert, 4 opera performances and 5 concerts in the main program the festival reached a total capacity of 98,56 %. Eight performances were sold out. Among these the one with musicbanda Franui that was part of the chamber music series called SPECIALS. 8.500 visitors attended the first time ever festival in winter at the new Festival House. The gross income was about 605.000 Euros.

 

"Of course it was totally clear to us, that the new theatre would have a great impact on Erl and the Tyrolean region", said Maestro Gustav Kuhn. "But we did not expect this kind of positive feedback and the economic success. We really appreciate these results and we are overwhelmed." It's a daring enterprise to start out with a winter season prolonging the summer festival. "But within this adventure we also saw a big chance: the reception of Christmas as a family event has changed and has rather gotten the quality of a cultural festivity." In addition to this there is no comparable alternative in this time of the year.

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This year the Tyrolean Festival Erl will take place from July 4th till 28th, 2013. The season will continue in winter from December 26th, 2013, till January 6th, 2014.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The audiance made it clear to everybody by showing their enthusiasm: This will be a new tradition, that is absolutely proper for Erl and the festival! A relaxed Maestro Kuhn revealed his love to the "easy" fach by conducting waltzes and polkas and presenting a moderation, that was entertaining and humorous for both the audiance and the musicians.

 

The man playing the piccolo replaces a missing cuckoo, the concertmaster becomes co-moderator of Maestro Kuhn, the festival's set designer fires with a pistol on stage like a hunter, the whole orchestra raises while playing and shouts out the initials of festival president Dr. Hans Peter Haselsteiner at the end of a polka without sorrows for saying thank you for all what he did and does for the festival. The perfect start of a new year!

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EUROPEAN CULTURE AWARD
It is a special honour for Gustav Kuhn: Next year he will recieve the European Culture Award of the European Culture Foundation "Pro Europa" on May 21st, 2013. The gala for the award at the opera house of Leipzig will be held in memory of Richard Wagner, whose 200th birthday will be celebrated next year. Gustav Kuhn specially will be awarded for his work at Tyrolean Festival Erl especially concerning his affords to establish Wagner's ten most important operas in the festival's repertoire.

 

THE FUTURE OF HAYDN OCHESTRA
Gustav Kuhn is not sure about his future at Haydn Orchestra. His contract lasts only till Decembre 31st, 2012. And there is still no decision of the orchestra's administration on how to go on. For Gustav Kuhn not really a difficult situation, for he is sure about the quality of the orchestra. There is only one thing he could not accept. And that would be another artistic director beside him.

 

SOUTH TYROLEAN FESTIVAL IN TOBLACH
From September 14th till September 23rd, 2012, the focus of South Tyrolean Festival in Toblach will be again on the three main topics of the young festival's programmatic profile: Mahler, contrasts, Belcanto! Within the third season of the Festival the audiance will again be part of an experiance between nature in autumn colours, nostalgic charme of the cultural center and the musical passion of Haydn-Orchestra Bozen and Trient conducted by Gustav Kuhn.

www.festspiele-suedtirol.it

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GREAT REVIEWS FOR THE NEW CD
The latest CD release with Richard Strauss' "Eine Alpensinfonie" earns great reviews and is celebrated as the summer discovery of the year, e.g. by Jens Lehmann on inforadio of rbb, the broadcasting company of Berlin and Brandenburg. For him, it was just in time to bring the Alpensinfonie back to the mountains, for giving it a new, fascinating sound.

 

By bringing best musicians together in an orchestra, there could be developed a "light, fresh, powerful sound. [...] Also thunder and storm sound particular intensive for you may know the best in Tyrol, how that feels. [...] And the young orchestra is doing an impressive job: Strauss' Alpensinfonie so light and bright like the sun breaking through the clouds."

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You can buy the CD released on col legno. Listen to the review in german here.

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FIRST REHEARSALS FOR WINTER SEASON
Director Andreas Leisner has been working with the soloists of Accademia di Montegral for Verdi's Nabucco - the first production for the new festival building - for the first time in Erl. Maestro Gustav Kuhn takes care that all singers come from a belcanto tradition instead of grand opera, what is more usual but not in the traces of music history. Concerning the fact, that the new house is supposed to host mostly Mozart and Italian repertoire, he tries by this specification of the cast to provide a new sound for Verdi that is much more authentic then the usual one.

 

The rehearsals took place at Passionsspielhaus. This could be possible due to the clever plannung of Gustav Kuhn and the architects making sure that the stage of the new festival house has the same size as the Passionsspielhaus. Opening night of Nabucco will be December, 29th.

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Successful summer season
The Tyrolean Festival Erl has never been as successful as in this summer season. Around 18.000 guests, 6 sold out performances at Passionspielhaus and an income of more than 870.000 Euro prove, that the festival can be quite optimistic concerning the future.

 

The Tyrolean Festival Erl ended its most sucessfull season ever since the foundation of the festival 15 years ago with a weekend dedicated to Wagner. While Tannhäuser and Lohengrin has been sold out for weeks, there were some tickets left for the people in line at the box office right before the performance making also this performance a sold out one. Thus the weekend it totally representable for the whole season: Due to around 18.000 international visitors - mainly from Austria, Germany and Italy - as well as an avarage occupancy rate of 95 % (2011: 88 %) an incomming ammount of 871.760 Euro (2011: 770.000 Euro) could be raised.

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"A real great record in our history", says Gustav Kuhn, Artistic Director of the festival. "We could reach our goal to raise the numbre of visitors ove the last few years constantly." Especially focussing on the opening of the new Festival Theatre on December, 26th, presenting mainly Italian repertoire as well as Mozart and contemporary pieces,the Maestro is happy about the fact that the performance of Puccinis Tosca this season was as popular as all the Wagner operas.

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col legno musica Lucca: 25th anniversary of Accademia di Montegral
Once again the Austrian CD label col legno will give an insight into its activities during 3 days of concerts with the pianist Alfonso Alberti and Jasminka Stančul. There will also be the opportunity to see behind the scenes of the label and experience, for the first time, a recording being made in the monastery’s chapel of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle. The guest will have the possibility to sit in on the recording sessions. The Chorus Academy, representing the Tyrolean Festival Erl, combined with exciting singers from the Accademia di Montegral will present this special varied program.

 

In 2012 there is also a main focus: Young artists from Lucca will be incorporated into the festival program, especially Girolamo Deraco, the composer in residence. After the success both with the critics and public alike for his three pieces commissioned by col legno musica lucca until last year, “Le eco del vuoto antico” (premier 2009), “Lucensis” (premier 2010), “REDazione” (premier 2011) there is great expectations for his two new compositions “Thau” for solo timpani and the Minimodramma “Amor che nullo”. Both pieces will have their premiers during the festival. Modern music, improvisations and works from the classical era are the pillars of an exciting and differing program under the direction of Maestro Gustav Kuhn.

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There will be the traditional mass on Sunday morning with Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle. The combination of evening concerts in the chapel and culinary surprises in the intervals makes the col legno musica an intermit chamber music festival presented by col legno, the Tyrolean Festival Erl and the Accademia di Montegral.

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Gustav Kuhn presents program for the 1st Tyrolean Festival Erl in winter
The program includes “Le Nozze di Figaro”, “Nabucco” and a variety of concerts. For the opening performance, Gustav Kuhn hands over his conductor’s stick to six young conductors – after all, the support of newcomers is a major concern at the new festival house. However, all of the other operas and concerts will be conducted and directed by the Maestro himself.

 

“This house stands for a life concept”, Gustav Kuhn summarized the program of the new festival house. “Here, the potential that the Accademia di Montegral and the Tyrolean Festival Erl have developed over the years will come to recognition at last, including the fields of bel canto and contemporary music.” Mozart, bel canto and Italian repertoire, contemporary and experimental music thus are the cornerstones of the winter program.

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The federal state of Tyrol is proud of the Tyrolean Festival Erl
“The Tyrolean Festival Erl have significantly influenced the cultural scene of Tyrol since 1998,” emphasized Dr. Beate Palfrader, Tyrol’s minister for culture. She said that she were proud and happy that a new festival house could be opened due to the extraordinary dedication of the Haselsteiner family’s private foundation. “The new festival house triggers excitement!” says Tyrol’s governor Günther Platter. He added that the Tyrolean Festival Erl were an anchor for Tyrol in many respects: culturally and artistically, of course, but also because of its added economic value and the international significance that the festival has earned Tyrol. With the year-round extension, the Tyrolean Festival Erl would accomplish a “quantum leap”. Platter thanked Hans Peter Haselsteiner and Gustav Kuhn for their extraordinary commitment and explained that it were self-evident and a great pleasure for the federal state of Tyrol to financially support the construction of the new festival house as well.​

 

On the construction of the festival house
Hans Peter Haselsteiner described the complex of the passion play and the festival house that is coming into being as a “festival district”: in winter (and, in the future, every six years in summer during the time of the passion plays), the Tyrolean Festival Erl will take place at the festival house, the construction of which has been started in October 2010 in Erl. Haselsteiner emphasized that all the constructions so far have been completed on schedule and in due time. “I’m glad that the house thus can already be passed to Gustav Kuhn starting November for the rehearsals of the 1st winter festival,” Haselsteiner said.

For additional information, photos and an online ticket shop please visit the website: www.tiroler-festspiele.at