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Choral Liszt
The opening concert of the festival, entitled Choral Liszt, held at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Rusovce, commemorates the composer’s family ties to this village. It was in this very church that Liszt’s grandparents, Georg Adam Liszt and Barbara Schlesak, a native of Rusovce, were married on 17 January 1775.
The concert programme presents a lesser-known aspect of Liszt’s output for male voices, where sacred, national, and social inspirations of the multicultural Central European region come together. Liszt’s works enter into dialogue with compositions by Béla Bartók, Ernő Dohnányi, and Ján Levoslav Bella, reviving the rich cultural world that shaped Liszt’s life, identity, and artistic legacy.
Before the concert, a commemorative plaque dedicated to Franz Liszt will be unveiled at the birthplace of his grandmother. This ceremony makes the event not only an integral part of the festival but also a meaningful contribution to preserving the local cultural heritage.
Programme
- Franz Liszt: Slavimo slavno, Slaveni!
- Béla Bartók: Five Slovak Folk Songs (selection)
- Franz Liszt: Ständchen for Tenor and Male Choir
- Franz Liszt: Magyar király-dal for Baritone
- Ernő Dohnányi: Bratislava Motets
- Ján Levoslav Bella: Saul und David for Bass
- Franz Liszt: Missa quattuor vocum ad aequales for Male Choir
Prices of tickets
Performer
The male vocal octet WienTet Singers was founded in 2020 as a collaborative project bringing together professional singers from Vienna’s leading choral ensembles, including the Vienna State Opera Chorus, the Arnold Schönberg Choir, and others. Building on the activities of the Slovak male vocal octet Danubius Octet Singers under the direction of conductor Daniel Simandl, the ensemble was originally formed to ensure authentic German pronunciation and stylistically informed interpretation for a recording of Ján Móry’s Zipser Lieder (Spiš Songs). Released in 2022, the album revived an exceptional yet largely forgotten part of Slovakia’s Carpathian German musical heritage.
The CD was officially launched with a concert at the Slovak Institute in Vienna in 2022. Its programme, which also featured the remarkable Pressburger Motette by Bratislava-born Ernst von Dohnányi, was later presented at the gala concert marking the 30th anniversary of the Museum of Carpathian German Culture in Slovakia, held at the Pálffy Palace in Bratislava in December 2024.
Today, the ensemble represents a unique international collaboration between three Slovak and five Austrian singers under the artistic direction of Slovak conductor and choirmaster Daniel Simandl. Its members are accomplished professional performers who regularly appear on opera and concert stages, including the Vienna State Opera, Theater an der Wien, and the Salzburg Festival as members of the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor.