Volksoper - Wilhering

Tobias Wögerer: On the podium for the “music heads”

Tobias Wögerer, conductor at the Vienna Volksoper

(Bild: Winkler Reinhard)

Last year, the young conductor Tobias Wögerer was awarded the Music Theater Prize in the category "Best Musical Conductor - Young Talent"; the conductor at the Volksoper Vienna, who is currently conducting the "Csárdásfürstin", is now coming to his home town of Wilhering for a special concert.

The operetta classic "Die Csárdásfürstin" is currently being performed at the Vienna Volksoper. Tobias Wögerer (33), a native of Linz, conducts the orchestra. He has been Kapellmeister at the Volksoper since the 2022/23 season, having previously assisted star conductor Teodor Currentzis at the Salzburg Festival.

He has not applied for the currently advertised position of Chief Conductor of the Bruckner Orchestra (BOL), he says in the "Krone" talk, but he has already conducted the BOL several times.

Rediscovery of a composer
Now Wögerer, winner of the 10th MDR Conducting Competition, is returning to his home country for a very special concert: he will conduct the Mozart Chamber Orchestra Japan and the Kawaminami Mozart Festival Choir in Wilhering Abbey Church on March 23.

The program includes works by Mozart, Bruckner and Balduin Sulzer (1932-2019). The concert is part of the "Wilheringer Notenköpfe", a music series commemorating Sulzer. He is also considered one of Austria's great contemporary composers posthumously.

"Krone": You knew Balduin Sulzer personally and also worked with him. What did he give you as a person?
Tobias Wögerer : I got to know him when I was at school because I played the cello at his masses in the collegiate church. What he perhaps unconsciously gave me: You should enjoy life, because you only have one. And you should fill this enjoyment with music as much as possible.

Is the composer Sulzer, who also played a lot at the Linz Landestheater and the Brucknerhaus, being forgotten?
Those who are very far away remember him best: the musician Isamu Magome and the Mozart Festival in Kawaminami, Japan, not only have him in their program, they want to carry on his ideas and continue to play him. In Wilhering - the place where he worked - they also try to keep reminding us of Sulzer's special qualities as a composer.

Conductor Tobias Wögerer

(Bild: K LEHERBAUER)

Good to know

Balduin Sulzer
He was born in Großraming in 1932 and died in Wilhering in 2019. He was a religious priest, composer and conductor; as a music teacher, he was a mentor to Franz Welser-Möst, among others. Works: 4 operas, children's musicals, 9 symphonies, concerts, choral music.

The 3rdconcert series "Wilheringer Notenköpfe - Balduin Sulzer quergehört" will take place from March 15 to 23 at Wilhering Abbey; highlight: choir-orchestra concert (March 23; 3 pm); conductor: Tobias Wögerer, with the Mozart Chamber Orchestra Japan, among others. All information at balduinsulzer.at

You are a young, successful conductor. How do you deal with the pressure in the industry?
I'm in my third year as a conductor at the Volksoper and also work freelance. Conducting requires a lot of discipline, it has a lot to do with experience. When you work on a piece several times, you build up an incredible amount of knowledge and can immerse yourself in a world of your own. As a conductor, you're never finished - but that's exactly the beauty of it!