New musical hit

A saint as a hero on a stage with a view of the lake

Good voices: Konstantin Zander as Wolfgang, Kaj Lucke as the devil

(Bild: Hörmandinger Reinhard)

St. Wolfgang as a hero: the shrill, colorful musical "Wolf - The Mystical" was launched on the new Salzkammergut lake stage in St. Wolfgang. The audience arrived by boat and were enthralled by the story, the voices and dance numbers and, of course, the lake panorama. 

The first miracle: the federal states of Salzburg and Upper Austria joined forces to create a lake stage in what is probably the most secluded spot in St. Wolfgang, namely in front of the Ried vacation resort with a view of the mountains and the lake. At the premiere of "Wolf - Das Mystical", the lake showed its rough side, giving the audience a fresh breeze and a perfect moonlit atmosphere.

The musical, presented by the "Krone", is a successful project by the duo Gerd Hermann Ortler (composer) and Franzobel (librettist). The author from Upper Austria portrays St. Wolfgang as a man with weaknesses and desires. To this end, he fabricates a crossover of legends and serves up contemporary, good entertainment.

Legends and a devil's pact
The story is told in short, concise acts that drive the plot forward. We see Wolfgang as a young man who pursues a young maid. But he has to become a priest and falls in love with a man. He cares for lepers, makes a career in Rome and returns. He defies a quaking mountain and builds a church with the help of the devil. But an innocent soul in the form of a wolf - in his visions the maid who loves him - thwarts the devil's pact.

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Beautiful voices, rough texts
In the end, Wolfgang becomes a saint - the second miracle. A chorus, which also develops compact dance numbers (choreography by Jerome Knols), frames the acts with scenes from the Middle Ages to the present day (directed by Viktoria Schubert). Three wise women - styled gossip bloggers - guide us through the entire story, in which the characters sing some harsh lyrics. Provocation is rightly the style, the only thing that prevents the "mystical" surrounding the saint from being kitschy.

Ortler's music also treads the fine line between catchy tune, great duets and arias, spanning the musical spectrum from Gregorian chant to rock and jazz. The cult band Opus contributed a song together with the Schick Sisters. The live band (conducted by Christoph Huber) sits virtually in heaven above the stage.

Even the journey is an adventure
The voices are truly powerful, especially Konstantin Zander (Wolfgang) and Kaj Lucke (Teufel). Some of the audience - around 800 visitors - arrived by boat, which set the mood for the special setting of "Mysticals".

Among the guests at the premiere of " Wolf - The Mystical" was an enthusiastic Manfred Scheuer, Diocesan Bishop of Linz: "When a saint is a hero, that's classic!" Composer Ortler confessed to the "Krone": "I wrote the last song three days ago - it's all 'fresh from the barrel'!"

There are performances until June 22.