Liebe & Meer im Wiener Musikverein

About the Event

Waves of the sea and love wash through this exquisite program, in which one of the most sought‐after opera conductors of our time collaborates with the musicians in the concert hall for the first time, bringing with him a celebrated opera star of the younger generation: Italian maestro Marco Armiliato takes to the podium, Russian mezzo‐soprano Aigul Akhmetshina sings, and together they explore mirror‐smooth or turbulent oceans and the passionately agitated spray of human souls. The fantastic romanticism of Richard Wagner's “Flying Dutchman” overture is followed by two great vocal works: Edward Elgar follows lyrical mood pieces by various poets, while Ernest Chausson tells a single love story – right up to its wistful end. Felix Mendelssohn's overture “Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage” is the perfect finale: composed after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's poem, it shows that even after a frightening lull, it is still possible to reach a safe harbor with billowing sails.

Wiener Musikverein

The Wiener Musikverein is one of the world's great concert halls. The home of the Vienna Philarmonic Orchestra and the centre of Viennese musical life, the building was opened in 1870 as a part of an ambitious plan to create an elegant cultural boulevard along the Ringstrasse. Designed in the Neo‐Classical style to resemble an Ancient Greek temple, the Great Hall of the Musikverein is deemed to be one of the best music halls in the world thanks to its impeccable acoustics.
In 2004 four new halls were added to the building. The Austrian architect Wilhelm Holzbauer recognised the aesthetic importance of the existing building and sought out ways to echo the style in a modern language of form. Each of the four New Halls focuses on a different material — glass, metal, stone, and wood.