Day 5: Linz and on to Saint Florian
Our tour started at the New Cathedral, the largest in Austria. Construction on the cathedral began while Bruckner was in Linz and when the first part of the building was completed, it was Bruckner's Mass in E Minor that was performed at the ceremony. That event is commemorated with a plaque inside the cathedral. The building is decorated with beautiful stained glass windows and the images of Bruckner and Beethoven are clearly seen on the panels that detail Linz's history. Due to Bruckner's time in Linz, there are many places where his activity is noted. There are plaques on the Old Cathedral and the Stadtpfarrekirche (parrish church) where Bruckner was organist. There are also plaques on buildings where he lived and where he was taught. These were all pointed out during our morning tour. At the Old Cathedral (Alte Dom) we visited the new "Bruckner Stairs" (Brucknerstiege) exhibit which is situated on the stairway up to the organ loft of the Bruckner Organ. The exhibit describes Bruckner's years in Linz. In the organ loft, the inner workings of the bellows were explained and the tour group was able to see where Bruckner wrote "farewell" on the organ console prior to his departure to Vienna. During a brief break for lunch, several of us had the opportunity to talk with pianist Dino Sequi, who with Gerhard Hofer is in the midst of a Bruckner cycle for piano four-hands. Following lunch the group took a tram from the Hauptplatz across the Danube and up to the top of a hill overlooking the City of Linz. We then returned to our hotel and transferred to the village of St Florian. Upon arrival in St Florian, we went to dinner at a local inn and many of us chose the "Anton Bruckner Special" on the menu (Roast pork, dumplings, boiled potatoes and sauerkraut). We had the distinct good fortune to be joined for dinner by the distinguished conductor, Gerd Schaller who is currently producing a Bruckner symphony cycle at the Ebrach Festival in Germany. We arrived in St. Florian just in time for some concerts at the BrucknerTage Festival. Unfortunately, the first of two concerts on the tour (a Jazz improvisation concert) was cancelled due to the illness of the ensemble's leader. But the Managing Director of the Festival, Klaus Laczika put together a short piano recital / lecture featuring the music of Mozart and Khachaturian by a very gifted young pianist, Elias Gillesberger. The concert and the ensuing discussion took place in St. Florian's imposing formal dining hall. Elias is studying at the Bruckner Institute of Music and will soon be making his first solo appearance with the Vienna Philharmonic. After dinner, about half of the group gathered at the hotel restaurant to discuss some of the hotel's unusual features. |
