Hubert von Goisern is planning a break from the stage

Hubert von Goisern is going on tour again: the musician, who celebrated his 70th birthday last year, starts his open-air journey “New Times, Old Signs” in May. Appropriately, he is also releasing a live double album and a new best-of (“During 2”) that covers the past 15 years. After the concerts, he takes a break from the music. “I don’t know how long,” stressed Von Goisern.

“There are other things that are beautiful too”

Already after the end of his “Trad” tour in January 2005 there was a combination of compilation (that was when the first “Derweil” was released) and a break from the stage. “Now it’s that time again, after this year I’ll be away from the stage for a while.” When it will continue cannot be estimated. “If I dissolve something, I never know when and how it will continue”, explained Von Goisern on Thursday at a media event in Vienna.

After all, it’s not like he can’t live without music. “There are also other things that are beautiful,” explained the musician with a wink. He will not come back for a pure best-of program. “Either I’ll think of something new, or I won’t.” There will probably be a second look on the literary side: After he published his debut novel “Valet” under his real name Hubert Achleitner in 2020, he now wants to devote himself to writing again. “That’s actually the plan. But you have to think of something first. It’s not like I’ve already worked in advance.”

“When you write you are all alone”

In any case, he finds it very pleasant to write. “You don’t have to coordinate yourself with anyone”, Von Goisern referred to the organizational effort of his music and live productions. “The team there is very large, it’s a medium-sized company. But when you write, you’re all alone, which is cool. It’s something that only affects me.” In the back of his mind he also has the desire to create a work for the stage. “It goes back 40 years. It’s nice to dream about it. But to implement it? A lot of sheet music, a lot of text. The appeal is there. But I don’t know if every dream can come true.”

The thrill of the tense strings

Recently Von Goisern was extremely critical of the coalition negotiations started in Salzburg between the ÖVP and the FPÖ. Is there an incentive to also process the increasing shift to the right in politics in music or literature? “The tension has increased”, Von Goisern nodded. “It’s tempting to strum those very tight strings and play those high notes.” However, it is not his intention to produce “politically active sounds”.

30 concerts in Austria, Germany and Italy

He’s going on the upcoming tour with the same live line-up as last year, but they’re only playing outdoors, which is why the set list has been changed and is less focused on ballads. “A few songs will be dropped, but others will be added”, Von Goisern gave an insight. “Some I haven’t played for a long time. Good songs are timeless anyway, luckily there are a few of them in my repertoire.” After the difficult start of the tour in 2022, when his band was briefly decimated due to the corona, he was now relaxed. “With every difficulty you overcome, with every overhang you create, you gain more confidence that a solution can be found.”

A total of 30 concerts are scheduled in Austria, Germany and Italy. The public dress rehearsal will take place on May 16 in Bad Ischl. Hubert von Goisern is playing at the OÖN concert summer at Burg Clam on July 28th, there are still tickets.