Anton Bruckner’s 200th birthday will be celebrated in two years’ time – the anniversary year is already casting its shadow. Also in the composer’s birthplace, in Ansfelden: the Brucknerbund is starting a new festival there in April. This year, the Bruckner Spring combines three concerts for the first time, and in the coming years the festival is to be compressed into one weekend.
Not just listening to Bruckner
The Bruckner Spring came about spontaneously: “The three concerts had been planned for a long time,” says Brucknerbund Chairman Peter Aigner. “So we thought it wise to bring them together under one roof.” However, works by the master himself can only be heard on one of the three dates when the church choir performs Bruckner’s Windhaag Mass on May 15 at 9 a.m. “Other than Bruckner things can happen at the Bruckner Spring,” says Aigner. In addition, there are hardly any suitable locations for large Bruckner works in Ansfelden.
The festival will open on April 24 at 4 p.m. with the Atalante Quartet, who will play works by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven in the parish church. On May 6th at 7.30 pm, also in the parish church, flautist Helmut Trawöger will be performing works by Bach, Marais and Debussy, among others.
The Brucknerbund is already thinking ahead: the Bruckner200 festival is on the program in November 2022, in 2024 there will be the Bruckner spring around Ascension Day, and Bruckner200 again in autumn. In addition, Aigner, himself a successful violinist and music school teacher in Neuhofen, is planning a concert with music students at the beginning of 2024: “The start of the anniversary year should be in Bruckner’s birthplace,” says Aigner, who has been the chairman for five years and during this time has increased the number of members of increased from 120 to 400. He wants to bring Bruckner closer to the population: “We want to take away people’s fear of Bruckner.” In 2024 the Bruckner Association will also celebrate an anniversary: it will be 100 years old. Information is available at brucknerbund-ansfelden.at
Source: Nachrichten
