Star conductor in conversation

Welser-Möst: “I always deal with it openly!”

A star around the world: Upper Austrian Franz Welser-Möst

(Bild: Oliver Erenyi)

"Thank you, I'm doing very well!" says Franz Welser-Möst in the "Krone" talk. After months of canceled concerts due to cancer - and several operations - the star conductor is confident about the coming autumn. On September 4, he will conduct "his Cleveland Orchestra" in Ansfelden near Linz. The sold-out concert will be broadcast live in the Donaupark in front of the Brucknerhaus.

It is the concert of the KulturEXPO in Upper Austria that has sold out the fastest: on September 4, 2024, exactly on the 200th birthday of the great composer Anton Bruckner, Franz Welser-Möst will conduct "his" Cleveland Orchestra in Ansfelden. The program includes the fourth symphony, the "Romantic".

To ensure that many people can experience this classical highlight, it will be broadcast in Linz's Donaupark and admission is free.

"It's great that this concert is not just for an exclusive circle, but is being made accessible to the general public. Let's look forward to it!", says Welser-Möst (63) to the "Krone". He also speaks openly about his state of health - and the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, which is looking for a new chief conductor.

(Bild: APA/DIETER NAGL)

"Krone": You are the chief conductor of the American Cleveland Orchestra. How do your musicians react to the concert in Bruckner's homeland?
Franz Welser-Möst: We are playing a few meters away from the place where Bruckner was born. That makes their eyes light up, because as Americans it gives them the feeling that they are getting incredibly close to music history.

What is so special about the Fourth Symphony?
The "Romantic", as Bruckner himself called it, has a lot to do with a love of nature. You can hear the Upper Austrian landscape in it, the birdsong, a Ländler, the hunting scherzo - these are deeply Upper Austrian parts of his music that appear in the Fourth in a very concentrated form.

What does Bruckner mean to you personally?
He is a part of me, I grew up here and Bruckner was omnipresent for me, whether in church music or here in the Brucknerhaus.

(Bild: Oliver Erenyi)

The Bruckner Orchestra Linz is looking for a new chief conductor. Rumor has it that you turned it down.
(laughs) You can only refuse if you've been asked.

You haven't been asked yet?
No, there has only ever been speculation. Look at this: I'm retiring from Cleveland in 2027. I'll have been in charge for 41 years straight - that's enough. Talk to my wife for once!

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANTON!"

On September 4, 2024, a classical open-air concert with Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra will kick off the International Bruckner Festival in Ansfelden, Upper Austria.

The concert at Bruckner's birthplace, presented by Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich, is completely sold out.

There will therefore be a live broadcast in the Donaupark Linz, powered by LINZ AG. Admission is free!

The live broadcast starts at 7 pm and the concert begins at 8 pm.

But could you imagine being a guest conductor with the Bruckner Orchestra?
I always say about guest conducting: I can be seduced! I can choose anything, I've worked my way up to that over decades. But I always say: "I'll only come if it's something that really interests me." That has to do with the program, with all sorts of things. But I never say no from the outset.

You had to cancel concerts last year due to cancer and underwent treatment in your home country, Upper Austria. How are you doing now?
Thank you, I'm doing very well. I've always dealt with the subject very openly. I had another operation on June 3 - and no more tumor cells were found. Now I have to go through immunotherapy twice more and then the chapter will be closed.

Then I wish you all the best from the bottom of my heart!