A Visit from Novosibirsk

You could say that Saturday, 5 October 2024, was an Eldorado for culture lovers in the eastern region. There was high-class chamber music “In Haydn’s Time” at Ebergassing Castle, Carl Orff’s (rarely performed) “Carmina Burana” at the Schwechat Multiversum, and the pianist brothers Eduard and Johannes Kutrowatz with the Russian vocal ensemble “Il Canto” and a world premiere at the Kulturfabrik Hainburg. As a nightcap, you could have rounded off the day at the “Long Night of Museums”.

I say: such scheduling clashes are a horror in a culturally developing region like ours. I can’t dance at three or four village fairs at the same time. And the organisers steal audiences and (already sparse) media presence from each other.

I chose the “Magic Sounds” at the Kulturfabrik Hainburg because I am an absolute fan of the Kutrowatz brothers. It is pointless to sing the praises of an Austrian piano duo that has been thrilling audiences for 40 years, from the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein to New York’s Carnegie Hall.

In addition to Franz Liszt’s symphonic poem “Orpheus”, a Dave Brubeck arrangement for two pianos, and an a cappella potpourri ranging from chorales to the Beatles and Sting, the programme featured the 3rd Piano Concerto to date by Eduard Kutrowatz. The work for two pianos and five female voices was specially written for the vocal ensemble “Il Canto” and was performed with them for the first time at the Kulturfabrik. The textual basis for the composition is William Shakespeare’s famous Sonnet No. 18.

A gentle, harmonious piece of music with classical and jazz elements as well as lyrical vocal passages, which you probably won’t hear again in this line-up anytime soon.

Location
As described elsewhere, the ballroom in the former tobacco factory has long proven itself as a sophisticated concert hall.

Organiser
For 43 years now – originally still close to the “Iron Curtain” – the Haydngesellschaft Hainburg has been bringing top-class musicians “to the countryside” in the eastern tip of Austria. The fact that this includes such precious rarities as the concert described above is thanks to the chairwoman, Beate Linke-Fischer.