List Hall in Graz

Rollercoaster of emotions at the start of the Styriarte

Music festival with Ensemble Zefiro, Schoenberg Choir and soloists under Alfredo Bernardini

(Bild: Nikola Milatovic)

The motto of the 40th Styriarte is "The Power of Music". This was impressively demonstrated at the opening in the Helmut List Hall in Graz - with George Frideric Handel's "Alexander's Feast or The Power of Music".

In 2003, Graz's year as Capital of Culture, Nikolaus Harnoncourt opened the Helmut-List-Halle as one of Styria's leading concert halls with George Frideric Handel's "Alexander's Feast or The Power of Music". Now, 21 years later, Alfredo Bernardini kicks off the 40th Styriarte at this very venue with this very oratorio - with his Zefiro Baroque Orchestra, the Arnold Schoenberg Choir and three wonderful soloists. And once again you can feel the "power of music".

"Make music not war" appealed Alfredo Bernardini (pictured right with Styriarte director Mathis Huber) at the beginning of the concert

(Bild: Nikola Milatovic)

Handel's "Alexander's Feast", based on an ode by the British poet John Dryden, tells the story of the singer Timotheus, who can put Alexander the Great in different moods with his singing. The performers of this evening also succeed in doing this wonderfully with their audience. Under the spirited and prudent direction of Alfredo Bernardini, an emotional arc spans from triumph and the drunken joy of victory to grief, pity and love skirmishes to the thirst for revenge, which captivates the audience in the sold-out List Hall from the very first note.

Impressive precision and joy of playing
The precision and enthusiasm with which the Zefiro Baroque Orchestra musically translates these emotions is impressive. No less convincing is the Arnold Schoenberg Choir, rehearsed by Erwin Ortner, which both fluffs the down and fuels the fire for the three soloists.

Tenor Daniel Johannsen and soprano Miriam Kutrowatz

(Bild: Nikola Milatovic)

Miriam Kutrowatz captures the audience's emotions with her warm, clear soprano voice and her lively interpretation, tenor Daniel Johannsen is in no way inferior to her, and bass Damien Gastl could do with one or two more arias.

A worthy start to the Styriarte, which made Bernardini's appeal "Make music not war" seem a little more realistic.