Song Request – Concert with world premieres in St. Peter/O

After more than 60 years of existence, it is time to include the beautiful setting of St. Peter’s Castle in Karl Ziller’s hometown as the concert venue in Lower Austria’s Singing Concert Series, as a series of events called “Music in the Origin”.

In the auditorium of the building, which also houses the Karl Zeller Museum, soprano Nicole Luebinger and bassist Michael Wagner performed on August 28 – with confidence and sensitivity accompanied by Andrea Linspur on piano – with a catchy and at the same time demanding song program. Three famous operetta composers: Karl Zeller must be mentioned first as the “big” composer of the trio, whose liar slept in the archive, partly underestimated, but found his way into the program paper through museum director Thomas Ghent and Michael Wagner. Six of the amusing but consistently simple folk songs – some with text (dialect) by Peter Rosger – are brilliantly interpreted by the two protagonists. The program was supplemented with some “Flower Songs” by Franz Lehr and three “Karst Songs” by Robert Stolz.

Nicole Loebinger impressed with her cheerful, cheerful colours, best understanding of words and subtle height. Working in the musical theater in Linz, Michael Wagner managed to draw an audience into a dance floor completely exhausted with his resonant bells and his ability to express. A compelling vocal and theatrical performance of “Därf ich’s Dirndl liab’n” was a highlight of this concert evening, which was skillfully and routinely conducted by Ulla Pilz with much knowledge, but also filled with somewhat unknown biographical statements about a composer. After three Zeller songs with scripts by romantic poets, “Christl von der Post” was a must-see before Michael Wagner ended the show with Urban’s hit “Kellermeister.”