Summer Festival of Electoral Saxony –
A Saxon and Bohemian Cultural Festival
Bad Elster, the former royal Saxon spa and today a state spa, which can hold its head high in comparison with the famous Bohemian spas, is holding the Summer Festival of Electoral Saxony for the twelfth time. There and in another 25 venues in the Vogtland and northern Bohemia, 150 events are taking. In venues many of which are historical, performances are given of musical theater, drama, classical concerts, jazz, readings, folk music, puppet theater and children’s theater.
The theater in Bad Elster is one of the most outstanding and magnificent royal theaters in Germany. It was officially opened in 1914 by King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony, the last Saxon king, as the King Albert Theater, although performances had started in 1888. After extensive restoration, the house was festively reopened in 2004, since when leading theater ensembles from Saxony, adjoining federal states and Bohemia have guested alongside international stars and ensembles.
After the healing waters had been discovered in Bad Elster, court director Karl Staudinger put an orchestra together in 1817 which subsequently developed into today’s Electoral Saxon Philharmonic, the orchestra of the state spas of Saxony, Bad Elster and Bad Brambach. The Philharmonic’s home is the famous King Albert Theater. For its concerts, the orchestra mostly uses historical instruments from the Vogtland region itself, where instruments have been made for centuries.
The festival period in Bad Elster is ‘fit for a king’, because although Saxony abolished the monarchy in 1918, the town is aware of the great tradition in the former royal Saxon spa. Each year one guest is treated with special attention. The venues are the King Albert Theater, the Royal Spa House, the ‘Kunstwandelhalle’ concert hall, the Nature Theater and the Music Pavilions.
Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition Violin and Viola
Dates:
07 - 16 .05 .2009
The event is one of the world-famous music competitions of the Federation of International Music Competitions, Geneva. The venues are in Markneukirchen in the musical region of the Vogtland, where traditional top-quality orchestral instruments are still made by hand. The musical instrument museum in the town is also worth visiting. The instrumental competition has taken place since 1966, alternating annually between strings and wind instruments. Its charm – unique in the world – lies in the direct relationship between instrument-making and performance. The competitors are adjudicated by an outstanding international jury.
Starting from a citizens’ initiative between Germans and Czechs in the Vogtland village of Misslareuth, the Center of Europe Festival has become one of the biggest and most successful cross-border festivals ever. For seven weeks events of the highest quality take place in Saxony, Bavaria and Bohemia: classical music, klezmer, jazz, literature, drama and the fine arts entertain audiences in churches, castles, barns and spa resorts.
Every May Klingenthal summons the best accordion players in the world to the International Accordion Competition in Klingenthal, the cradle of German accordion manufacture. Highlights are provided by the interaction between accordion and big symphony orchestra. The musical works performed in Klingenthal are often premieres or even written especially for the competition. Top-class artists also devise the fringe program of the Accordion Competition.
The down-to-earth atmosphere of ‘Harmonica live’ and the experience of watching virtuosi playing their instruments attracts fans of blues, Irish folk and jazz as if by magic. Alongside concerts, the program also features workshops and exhibitions on the instrument.
Together with ‘Rigoletto’ and ‘La Traviata’, Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘Il trovatore’ is one of the big three operas that helped the most outstanding Italian composer of the 19th century to reach world fame.