The 2024 Bruckner Tour of Austria - A report on the 200th Anniversary
Since I had some obligations at home, and since the travel company responsible for the tour logistics had run three previously successful tours, I did not arrive in Austria until September 1st. It turned out to be a fascinating and totally exhausting experience. I left home on the August 31st and arrived in Vienna (via Frankfurt) very early on September 1st. The tour company arranged for me to be picked up and transported directly to the Austrian National Library. Connections were so fast that I arrived there before it opened at 10AM. It gave me a few moments to savor some coffee at a local café. The Austrian National library had mounted a fascinating exhibit entitled, “Bruckner, the Pious Revolutionary.” It was curated by Andrea Harrandt and Thomas Liebnitz of the music division of the OnB and they did an outstanding job. The exhibition was presented in the library’s main hall and it consisted of numerous displays of documents, photographs, artifacts and musical manuscripts. It was the first time that all of these objects had been openly displayed in one place. As with many exhibits of this kind, an exhibition book had been prepared. For some reason I had envisioned this to be a booklet with brief descriptions and some photos. It was, in fact a large “coffee table” sized book of 256 pages. I had innocently promised several people that I would bring back a copy of the book for them and being true to my word, I now found myself suddenly burdened at the very outset of my trip with an extra thirty pounds of luggage. I hobbled to the Vienna train station and took an evening train to Linz where I arrived missing what appeared to be two days of sleep. Prior to my arrival the tour had already visited Bruckner-related sites in Vienna and Linz. The morning after my arrival we were off to Enns, Kronstorf and Saint Florian. In the beautiful and ancient city of Enns, Bruckner received early and critically important musical instruction from Leopold von Zenetti. A plaque marks the house where Zenetti lived and where Bruckner visited. Next, we were off to Kronstorf, the small village where Bruckner finally had a positive experience in his first profession as a schoolteacher. The house where he taught and lived is nicely maintained. His desk and chair in his room are still there and until a few years ago, a violin he left as payment was on display as well. A facsimile is there now since the violin has now been restored and his kept in the mayor’s office for more security and proper storage. If there is any place in the world that most evokes the spirit of Bruckner, it is the Augustinian Abbey of Saint Florian. To this day, the abbey dominates the small town and, without doubt, Bruckner’s legacy dominates the abbey. Every year, there are dozens of concerts given featuring Bruckner’s music and visiting orchestras are presenting concerts in several of Saint Florian’s great halls and basilica, where the great Bruckner Organ is installed, and where Bruckner’s remains are preserved. For this anniversary year, the emphasis on Bruckner was intensified and a special exhibit entitled, “Bruckner and Saint Florian: Where It All Began” was mounted. Again a “coffee table” exhibition book, some 270 pages in length and 3 pounds in weight, was added to my luggage. In the afternoon, we were led into the crypt to visit Bruckner’s sarcophagus located several floors below but directly beneath the Bruckner Organ. Later, organist Andreas Ettlinger gave us a private tour of the organ loft and even allowed members of the tour to step inside the organ itself. An organ recital followed which included a performance of Bruckner’s Perg Prelude – one of the few pieces Bruckner wrote down for posterity. Most of Bruckner’s fame as an organist came from his extraordinary skills as an improvisor. September 3rd was devoted to a full day excursion to Bad Kreuzen, where Bruckner sought treatment for his nervous exhaustion, Windhaag (his first and unpleasant experience as an assistant schoolteacher from 1841-1845) and Kefermarkt. We visited the spa at Bad Kruezen and were treated to a hike that in past years involved a lengthy, narrow and steep descent. This year we climbed. We were rewarded by visiting a place that Bruckner used for peaceful meditation. We were more involved with catching our breath. In Windhaag there was good news and bad. The school house which in the past was closed to the public now had a newly opened gilft shop . The tour rewarded the owner’s entrepreneurship by greatly reducing her inventory. On a sad note, the house where Bruckner lived had suffered a recent fire. What was previously a nicely manicured property had fallen into disrepair. The next day was Bruckner’s birthday, and it was non-stop. It began with a concert in Ansfelden at 4:30AM, the hour of his birth. The concert involved a water organ that provided aa amorphous sound that was gradually interrupted by a brass sextet that played brass arrangements of some of Bruckner’s motets. The concert was followed by a coffee reception which was attended by a surprisingly large crowd given the hour. We were then bused back to Linz to be later bused back to St. Florian for the anniversary concert given in St. Florian’s basilica. The sold out crowd was treated to a performance of the Te Deum and the Symphony No. 9 with the Bruckner Orchestra of Linz and the Hard-Chor (I love that name!) conducted by Markus Poschner. The Te Deum was played first, so there was no intention of presenting it as a finale to the symphony. The Te Deum was reinforced by the Bruckner Organ which provided a substantial bass line to the performance. Poschner, as usual, chose a brisk tempo which resulted in some mixed cues due to the considerable reverberation in the basilica. The entire concert was recorded and featured on Austrian television later in the day. Later that afternoon was the second main event in a day full of activities. In Ansfelden, a huge stage was erected adjacent to the church and the evening concert featured a sold-out performance of the Bruckner Symphony No. 4 with Austrian native Franz-Welser Moest conducting the Cleveland Orchestra. Thanks to the help of the Deputy Mayor of Ansfelden, I was able to scrounge up a 200 Euro ticket to the event. While most of the tour returned back to Linz where the concert would be shown on a huge screen near the Brucknerhaus. I stayed to listen in person. As is typical of Welser-Moest, the performance was technically precise but lacking any drama. I was on my own in trying to get a ride back to Linz, but I eventually succeeded thus bringing a very long birthday celebration to a close. The next and last day of the tour involved the tour’s transfer back to Vienna. On the way we stopped at Kremsmuenster and a viewing of Bruckner manuscripts held there and then a visit to Klosterneuburg which Bruckner frequently visited. A final dinner was arranged at the Vienna hotel where tour participants exchanged stories and e-mail addresses. September 6th was departure day and many of us were feeling worn down by jet lag and the crazy hours. By the time I staggered into my house, a test showed that I had contracted Covid, as did several other people on the tour. But we also found out that we had been incredibly lucky because the day after our tour ended, Austria was subjected ti historic rainfalls which would have severely restricted many of the tour’s activities and scheduled events. In the end, I wouldn’t have missed it for anything! |
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Photos from the 2024 Bruckner Anniversary Tour | |||
