Karl Weigl
Three Intermezzi for string quartet (1941)
Anton Webern
Six Bagatelles op. 9 for string quartet (1911-13)
Three pieces for string quartet with voice (1913)
Karl Weigl
Three songs for mezzo-soprano and string quartet (1935/36)
György Kurtág
Arioso - Hommage à Walter Levin 85
Gustav Mahler
Five Songs from 1901 for mezzo-soprano and string quartet (arranged by Stefan Heucke)
- Ursula Hesse von den Steinen Mezzosoprano
- Alvaro Palmen Violin
- Elisabeth Polyzoides Violin
- Martina Horejsi-Kiefer Viola
- Daniel Raabe Violoncello
Introduction 30 minutes before the concert with Norbert Hornig
Ostracized, persecuted, forgotten: The life and afterlife of Karl Weigl is one of the most tragic chapters in recent music history. The Viennese composer was a great success in the 1920s – he was friends with Schönberg, his works were performed by Furtwängler, and he received numerous awards. Then the Nazis took power in Austria, and Weigl, who had Jewish roots, fled to the USA. At 57, he was forced to start all over again in a foreign country, but he couldn’t gain foothold and his compositions piled up in the drawer. This concert strives to re-establish his esteem and juxtaposes Weigls music with that of two other composers from his living environments Austria and the USA: Anton Webern, who explores the new territory of twelve-tone music with his Bagatelles, and Samuel Barber, whose piece »Dover Beach« marks the beginning of his career – and a successful one at that.
