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Ernst Krenek's Karl V. at Bregenz Festival, Austria

Jun. 26, 2008

This month Austria's Bregenz Festival presents four performances of Ernst Krenek's Karl V. as well as his Kehraus um St. Stephan, both key works in the Austrian composer's operatic oeuvre. The first full-length twelve-tone opera, Karl V. is a work of gripping music drama recounting the life story of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in the form of flashbacks. The emperor, on his death bed, explains to a young monk his actions, his motives and his effects in an effort for redemption. "Like his contemporaries Picasso and Stravinsky, Krenek too holds up a mirror to the 20th cenutury - and it is deplorable that, back then, only a few were prepared to listen to him," comments director David Pountney. Krenek‘s Karl V. received its first performance in Prague in 1938. The opera had been commissioned by the Vienna State opera in 1933 and its premiere, scheduled for 1934, was cancelled as a result of political opposition by the minister of education and the Nazi blacklisting of Krenek. Lothar Koenigs conducts the Vienna Symphony Orchestra with Uwe Eric Laufenberg directing and Dietrich Henschel starring as Karl V. The Bregenz Festival presents Karl V. on July 24, 27, 31 and August 3.

The Bregenz Festival has also organized performances of important works from other creative periods of Krenek's life. Both of his Violin Concertos can be heard; No. 1 on August 10, with soloist Hanna Weinmeister, and No. 2 on August 4, featuring Ernst Kovacic. A cast including Roman Sadnik, Albert Pesendorfer, Andrea Bogner, and Gerhard Ernst join the Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg under conductor John Axelrod in performances of Krenek's operetta Kehraus um St. Stephan on July 30, August 1, 2, and 5. The production is designed by Michael Scheidl. Additionally, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra performs Potpourri on July 28 under Carlo Rizzi, and the opening concert of the festival on July 24 includes Krenek's Eight Songs from the "Journey through the Austrian Alps."

For more information on the life and work of Ernst Krenek, please go to www.universaledition.com and www.baerenreiter.com.

For precise information on the Bregenz Festival visit www.bregenzerfestspiele.com.

Ernst Krenek
Karl V. (1933)
opera in two acts
for 2 sopranos, alto, 2 baritones, 4 tenors and SATB chorus
2232-4221-timp.5perc-hp-mand-str
stage music: 3tp-4perc
180'

Kerhaus um St. Stephan, Op. 66 (1930)
libretto (Ger) by Ernst Krenek
for soprano, 2 mezzo-sopranos, 3 tenors, 6 Baritones and SATB chorus
2(pic)2(1.ca)3(eb cl, 2 cl in b)bcl.2(2.cbsn)-2221-timp.3perc-str
full evening

Violin Concerto No. I, Op. 29 (1924)
for violin and orchestra
2022-2200-str
21'

Violin Concerto No. II, Op. 140 (1954)
for violin and orchestra
25'

Potpourri, Op. 54 (1927)
for orchestra
2232-0321-perc-pno-str
12'

8 Songs from the "Journey through the Austrian Alps" Op. 62A (1929/1973)
for medium voice and orchestra
2222-4110-2perc.hp-str
20'

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