DAS UNTERÖSTERREICHISCHE LIEDERBUCH (THE BOOK OF LIEDER FOR LOWER AUSTRIA)

The production includes sections on the highs. the lows and the extreme depths of the Austrian soul. This concert could be seen as a presentation of field research into the different ways in which Austria has viewed itself during the 20th and 21st centuries. “What do we love about Austria? What is it that we still suffer, and what do we no longer suffer from at all?” The evening begins with “Lieder aus Wien”, based on texts by H.C. Artmann and set to music by Egon Wellesz. This is followed by a selection from Ernst Krenek’s 1929 Lieder cycle “Reisebuch aus den österreichischen Alpen” (A travel book on the Austrian Alps). Next is the “Unterösterreichische Liederbuch”. Here the conventional Liederabend framework is deliberately stretched in terms of both instrumentation and staging, at times making use of drama and gesture. The various sections of the programme are punctuated by hosted discussions. These provide a kind of “reference index” which aids navigation and maintains close contact with the audience. We are all Lower Austrians, to some degree or other. This is not so much a matter of geography as a collection of rather sinister character traits. And making that a topic for investigation is, of itself, very much an Austrian passion.