Miroslav Srnka, the most successful Czech composer today, was the main star of DIALOGE 2017, contemporary music festival held by the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation. Forming the dramaturgical basis of the festival, his music was being performed several times over the 4 days – as the festival’s name suggests – in dialogues with other contemporary, classical, electronic or film music.
The festival was opened by Srnka’s monodrama My Life Without Me, performed by soprano Laura Aikin and oenm . österreichisches ensemble für neue musik led by Johannes Kalitzke. The second, chamber music-oriented day introduced composer’s Dreizehn Lieder song cycle (Deniz Uzun – soprano, Tobias Truniger – piano) and two string quartets, performed by Quatuor Diotima together with those of Leoš Janáček. The third day saw Münchener Kammerorchester play under the direction of Clemens Schuldt concert of works inspired by wild nature; Srnka’s Eighteen Agents and No Land No Sky were here accompanied with Dvořák’s Serenade for Strings in E major and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s Hebrides. On the last day, Srnka’s music was improvised on by Iranian harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani. The festival traditionally ends on the Sunday before the anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s death (December 5) with a performance of his famous Requiem. This year, the concert also included Srnka’s Simple Space (Marcus Pouget – violoncello, Katharina Teufel-Lieli – harp) and Les Adieux (Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, cond. Pablo Heras-Casado); works that, albeit in a different musical language, speak just like Mozart’s very last piece about parting and death.
30 November – 3 December, Stiftung Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria
DIALOGE 2017