THOMAS BERNHARD’S “ALTE MEISTER” (OLD MASTERS)

Thomas Bernhard described his novel “Alte Meister” as a comedy. Bernhard’s love-hate relationship with his homeland drove him almost to the grotesque in this work. The novel addresses lying and failure, and returns again and again to the subject of art. But it also affirms that nothing, not even art, can replace the “einzigen geliebten Menschen”, that most important and beloved person in one’s life. The music surrounds and supports the text. We hear from old masters such as Domenico Gabrielli and Bernhard’s much-loved Mozart. Vienna, the city he so loved and so hated, makes an appearance in the famous “Wien, Wien, nur du allein “, as well as in the unsettling sounds of Anton Webern und Till A. Körber. The evening closes with the music of Franz Schubert, unveiling the unexpected …