Tour through Styria

A “Zwutschgerl” that whets the appetite for great opera

Singer Roman Pichler with Anna Hiden, U Chong Wong, Lukas Ganster and Stefan Hirt in the background

(Bild: Oliver Wolf)

"Opera, open up!" Ulrich Lenz took up his directorship of the Graz Opera in the fall with this motto. One of the projects that most clearly embodies this spirit of openness is the mini-opera "Der Berggeist vom Schöckl", which is now touring the entire province. 

At the foot of the Schöckl, in the Cursaal in St. Radegund, Graz Opera's latest production celebrated its premiere on Sunday morning. The fact that the elegant venue was filled to capacity was the first sign that the plans of artistic director Ulrich Lenz and Constanze Wimmer from Graz University of the Arts to make new audiences curious about opera with the mini-opera "Der Berggeist vom Schöckl" are likely to work.

An old legend in an operatic guise
Graz composer Christoph Breidler and Viennese librettist Susanne F. Wolf have adapted the old legend of the farmer who follows the labyrinthine paths of love and unwittingly enters the realm of the mountain spirit of the Schöckl into an "operatic twist", as Ulrich Lenz calls the work.

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Brisk, imaginative and full of humor, the work sweeps through the legend and musically picks up on motifs not only from classical opera literature, but also from folk culture. For example, the four-piece orchestra includes not only viola (U Chong Wong), clarinet (Anna Hiden) and tuba (Stafan Hirt), but also a Styrian accordion (Lukas Ganster). And the playful quartet also act as narrators, trotting from the peasant stables to the "Weanarian" gold robbers.

Roman Pichler in the role of the lovesick farmer and Corina Koller as his beloved Ana wonderfully bring the hearty, subtle mix of this operetta-like "Zwutschgerl" to the stage. 

Pleasure in two parts
To find out whether the two will really get together or not, you have to come to the opera on May 14. Only then will the second part of "Der Berggeist vom Schöckl" be shown. Until then, the first part of Graz Opera's highly entertaining attraction can be experienced free of charge from Bad Mitterndorf to Feldbach. All dates can be found here.