Festival-Eröffnung

Is that still classical? Or is it jazz? It's a bit of both! Immediately following the triumphant success of his «Rhapsody in Blue», the young George Gershwin was asked to write a piano concerto in a more traditional mould. With its premiere in 1925, he at last joined the circle of America's most important composers. As one of two key works of the 20th century to open the Grafenegg Festival, the Concerto in F will dazzle the Wolkenturm audience with the ideal combination of Artistic Director Rudolf Buchbinder at the piano, the Tonkunstler Orchestra, and Music Director Yutaka Sado on the podium. The prospect of hearing Arnold Schönberg's «Pelleas and Melisande», with its impressive atmospheric and natural imagery, is particularly exciting: this is the first time that a large orchestral work by the avant-garde composer appears on the programme at Grafenegg. In its instrumentation and passionate adherence to late Romantic tonal opulence, this symphonic poem sits firmly in the tradition of Richard Strauss' monumental «Alpine Symphony». Schönberg's Opus 5 - a poignant tragedy of forbidden love - is today one of the more frequently performed works by the future twelve-tone composer.