Brucknerhaus anniversary

Only the choirboys chased away the resentment

The St. Florian Boys' Choir thrilled audiences at the Brucknerhaus in Linz(Bild: Einöder Horst)

(Bild: Einöder Horst)

(Bild: Einöder Horst)

(Bild: Einöder Horst)

The Brucknerhaus in Linz is 50 years old. Unfortunately, the celebratory weekend began with mixed feelings. But René Esterbauer, the "new face" of the Brucknerhaus, used warmth of heart in his very first welcome to the audience; the St. Florian Boys' Choir broke the ice.

What a premiere: "When I heard Bruckner's Fifth recently, I fell in love with the Brucknerhaus!" This was the first time René Esterbauer got up close and personal with the audience - and hearts flew to him.

Following the waves of scandal surrounding the dismissed LIVA board duo Dietmar Kerschbaum and Rainer Stadler, as we reported, the new Commercial Director is the "host" of the festival weekend.

Philipp Feichtinger and Michael Seidl designed the multimedia exhibition "Symphony of Glass and Steel", a journey through 50 years of the Brucknerhaus.(Bild: Einöder Horst)

Everything is being tidied up!
On Friday evening, he received support from Mayor Klaus Luger at the ceremony before the Bruckner Orchestra concert. Referring to the incidents, he assured: "We are making every effort to clear up the serious allegations, we don't want to hand out a clean bill of health, nor do we want to make any prejudgements." Doris Lang-Mayerhofer, City Councillor for Culture, thanked Esterbauer and the Brucknerhaus team for "managing the anniversary".

Golden boys' voices
However, it was only the brisk "Servas, Anton!", which the St. Florian Boys' Choir preceded their "Lieder Roas", that actually smoothed over the audience's resentment at the waves of scandal, which probably came at the worst possible time. The opening of the "Symphony of Glass and Steel" exhibition also helped to lift the mood.

The Bruckner Orchestra Linz under Markus Poschner(Bild: reinhard winkler)

First festival concert
The highlight on the first day of the festival: the Bruckner Orchestra Linz under Markus Poschner congratulated the audience with Bruckner's First and a world premiere of the piece "Letters" by Upper Austrian composer Rudolf Jungwirth.

The celebrations continue tomorrow, Saturday. Political celebrities - Minister of Economic Affairs Martin Kocher and the Presidents of the National Council Doris Bures and Wolfgang Sobotka - have announced their attendance at the ceremony. Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen sends a video message.

The finale: as at the opening in 1974, then under Herbert von Karajan, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra plays Anton Bruckner's 7th Symphony, this time conducted by Zubin Mehta.