Festival kicks off with local ensembles
The series of events celebrating the 130th birthday of Othmar Schoeck and the 175th birthday of his father, the painter Alfred Schoeck, opened on September 1.
Othmar Schoeck was associated with Brunnen throughout his life. The men's choir, music society, orchestra and Singkreis Brunnen were in contact with the composer or his family in one form or another in the past. At the start of the festival, these societies performed works by Schoeck, appropriately enough in the Hotel Waldstätterhof, where Schoeck's mother, the hotelier's daughter Agathe Fassbind, came from.
Some of the compositions performed by the four clubs in the packed Mythensaal were written by Schoeck for local occasions, such as the Brunner Standschützen March (1922) and Song of the young warriors and Choir of priests and priestesses (1906/07) for the Schwyzer Japanesenspiel 1907.
Schoeck biographer Chris Walton gave the laudatory speech, which brought the man and artist very vividly to life. Grandniece Isabel Schoeck, District Mayor Othmar Reichmuth and President of the Board of Trustees Richard Wyrsch welcomed the audience and emphasized the significance of this event from their own perspectives.
The exhibition "Alfred Schoeck - adventurer, landscape painter and hunter" can be seen in the Galerie am Leewasser from August 27 to September 24, framing the Othmar Schoeck Festival, so to speak. This offers an insight into the life of the family and conveys and reflects on the composer's work. In addition to chamber and symphony concerts, a performance in the Villa Schoeck and guided tours, the competition for song duos and the symposium on opera are particularly worthy of mention. Dürande Castle to emphasize. The preliminary rounds of the competition on September 6 and 7 are open to the public, the final concert (tickets on sale) will take place on September 9. The symposium in collaboration with Bern University of the Arts, which is also open to the public without prior registration, begins on Friday, September 9 at 2 pm and runs until Sunday, September 11 at 4 pm.
