Festspielhaus St. Pölten
Encyclopedia
The Festspielhaus St. Pölten is a Festival Theatre
in St. Pölten
, the capital of Lower Austria
. It is located next to the Landesmuseum (museum of the country of Lower Austria), the Ausstellungshalle (exhibition hall), the Landesbibliothek (public library of the country of Lower Austria), the Landesarchiv (archive of the country of Lower Austria) and the Klangturm in the cultural district of St. Pölten.
The Festspielhaus was opened on March 1, 1997. Already one year later the house was regularly used for music theatre and dance. Since September 2009 the German dancer, choreographer and director Joachim Schloemer is the artistic director of Festspielhaus St. Pölten.
The Festspielhaus is also residency of the Tonkünstlerorchester Niederöstereich
, the orchestra of Lower Austria, which presents about 15 concerts, operas – contemporary and classic ones – and other performances in the Festspielhaus each year. Andres Orozco-Estrada
is the principal conductor, additionally guest conductors like Andreas Delfs
, Heinz Holliger
, Carlos Kalmar
, Hugh Wolff
, Eiji Oue
or Lothar Zagrosek
are leading the orchestra.
Following the Venezuelan video game modifier Victor Morales and the Swiss musician Etienne Abelin the current Artists in Residence are Flemish-Moroccan choreographer and dancer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Italian guitarist and composer Maurizio Grandinetti.
The Festspielhaus St. Pölten presents about 70 productions each season. Over 70,000 guests attend the performances every year. About 4,000 people are owners of season tickets for the Festspielhaus St. Pölten.
During the festivals keyboard music, Polifonica, Nox Illuminata and Österreich TANZT artists like Marianne Mendt
, Joy Fleming
, Katia and Marielle Labèque
, Andreas Staier
and Take 6
will be performing in Festspielhaus.
The Festspielhaus aims to offer children and young people experience-orientated access to cultural programmes. It offers workshops, school performances, opera workshops and youth projects. In the past season newly opened performance venues and sites for exchanges between the audience and the artists have become locations for cultural provision in the best sense of the word: Box, Café Publik, Jugendklub/300, Forbidden City, parcours, workshop series, Daily CyberSoaps of CyberLab 2010 and tango. Through the immediacy of the newly conceived stages in the Box and Café Publik and through the numerous workshops and labs on the two rehearsal stages, all these formats have offered visitors the opportunity to participate intensively in the artistic events. With various participatory projects it has been possible to include people of all age groups in artistic processes and to promote their involvement with social issues, their creative attitude to and sensitisation for music and dance.
Café Publik, curated by Andreas Fränzl, was opened in September 2009 and has already established itself as a performance venue, a workshop and communication platform.
Every Wednesday – four times a month – the tango community gathers in the café and on the rehearsal stages. On Tuesday the Café's Choir does its weekly rehearsal. From Thursday to Saturday the stage in the Café Publik is completely taken over by the creative minds in the city, when everyone is invited to discussion rounds, games evenings, live-music karaoke, poetry slams, literature and film lectures and culinary evenings. Parties, DJ lines and small-format concerts like Trouble Over Tokyo
open intersections between the international programme of the main house and regional artists.
The Große Saal of the Festspielhaus offers 1,063 seats, a standingroom with 70 places, 4 wheelchair places and a stage, that allows music- and dance performances. The dance-season has for instance a number of Sadler's Wells Theatre
's productions like one of Russell Maliphant
, Wayne McGregor Random Dance, William Forsythe
's Impressing the Czar
by the Royal Ballet of Flanders or the Cullberg Ballet
as guests. Artists and ensembles of erudite music are Ian Bostridge
, Sarah Chang
, the Czech Philharmonic, the Dresden Philharmonic under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
, Martin Fröst
, the Hagen Quartet
, Andreas Haefliger
, Chloë Hanslip
, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Christiane Oelze
, Luba Orgonasova
, Chen Reiss
, Simona Houda-Saturova
, Lars Vogt
, Cristina Zavalloni
or Ivan Zenaty
; popular music is presented by Rabih Abou-Khalil
, Aka Moon
, Fabrizio Cassol
, Michel Godard
, James Hunter
, Angélique Kidjo
, Mísia
or Baba Sissoko
. For orchestral concerts there has been built a special acoustic shell. By means of subtle mechanical changes the Große Saal offers perfect conditions for dance and its outstanding acoustics provide the best preconditions for concerts and music theatre. The possible adjustments relate to the ceiling, the walls and the proscenium arch. The concert shell is an essential component of the acoustics.
The iron curtain of the Große Saal was designed by the artist Eva Schlegel. It separates the audience from the stage. The size is 20 m width and 10.5 m height. It shows the biggest picture of the country and weighs 14.5 tons.
Besides the big hall there is the Box. A "stage direction gallery" at the east end of the hall holds the technical equipment.
For smaller performances there are two rehearsal stages available:
Rehearsal stage 1 also serves as a concert or lecture hall. It is decorated throughout with black wood panelling. The glazed south façade can be completely darkened by means of wooden slats. The seating is flexible and can be adapted to various types of events (up to 100 seats).
Rehearsal stage 2 is directly above Rehearsal stage 1 and has the same dimensions. It is primarily conceived as a ballet hall, but can also be used as a concert or lecture hall. The ceiling, partly constructed of glass, offers a spectacular view of the sky. The technical facilities are identical to those of the Schönberg-Saal.
Festspielhaus
A Festspielhaus or Festival Theatre is a German language term describing a theatre designed for opera or music festivals.There are several examples of Festival Theatres in the German-speaking world:...
in St. Pölten
Sankt Pölten
Sankt Pölten is the capital city of the State of Lower Austria in northeast Austria. With inhabitants , it is Lower Austria's largest city...
, the capital of Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
. It is located next to the Landesmuseum (museum of the country of Lower Austria), the Ausstellungshalle (exhibition hall), the Landesbibliothek (public library of the country of Lower Austria), the Landesarchiv (archive of the country of Lower Austria) and the Klangturm in the cultural district of St. Pölten.
The Festspielhaus was opened on March 1, 1997. Already one year later the house was regularly used for music theatre and dance. Since September 2009 the German dancer, choreographer and director Joachim Schloemer is the artistic director of Festspielhaus St. Pölten.
The Festspielhaus is also residency of the Tonkünstlerorchester Niederöstereich
Tonkünstler Orchestra
The Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich is an Austrian orchestra based in Vienna and St. Pölten, Lower Austria.-Origin of the name:The orchestra's name has its origins in the Tonkünstler-Sozietät, Wien, which was organizing concerts in the era of Haydn and Mozart...
, the orchestra of Lower Austria, which presents about 15 concerts, operas – contemporary and classic ones – and other performances in the Festspielhaus each year. Andres Orozco-Estrada
Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Andrés Orozco-Estrada is a Colombian violinist and conductor.Andrés Orozco-Estrada was born in December 1977 in Medellín . After early studies of the violin he started taking conducting classes in 1992...
is the principal conductor, additionally guest conductors like Andreas Delfs
Andreas Delfs
Andreas Delfs is a German conductor. He is the conductor laureate of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Honolulu Symphony.-Biography:...
, Heinz Holliger
Heinz Holliger
Heinz Holliger Heinz Holliger Heinz Holliger (born 21 May 1939 is a Swiss oboist, composer and conductor.-Biography:He was born in Langenthal, Switzerland, and began his musical education at the conservatories of Bern and Basel. He studied composition with Sándor Veress and Pierre Boulez...
, Carlos Kalmar
Carlos Kalmar
Carlos Kalmar is a Uruguayan conductor. He began violin studies at age six. At age fifteen, he enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Music where his conducting teacher was Karl Österreicher...
, Hugh Wolff
Hugh Wolff
Hugh Wolff is an American conductor.He was born in Paris while his father was serving in the U. S. Foreign Service, then spent his primary-school years in London. He received his higher education at Harvard and at Peabody Conservatory...
, Eiji Oue
Eiji Oue
is a Japanese conductor.Oue began his conducting studies with Hideo Saito of the Toho Gakuen School of Music. In 1978, Seiji Ozawa invited him to spend the summer studying at the Tanglewood Music Center. While there, he met Leonard Bernstein, who became a mentor. Oue won the Tanglewood...
or Lothar Zagrosek
Lothar Zagrosek
Lothar Zagrosek is a German conductor. As a youth, he sang in the Regensburg Cathedral choir, including performances as the First Boy in The Magic Flute at the 1954 Salzburg Festival...
are leading the orchestra.
Following the Venezuelan video game modifier Victor Morales and the Swiss musician Etienne Abelin the current Artists in Residence are Flemish-Moroccan choreographer and dancer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Italian guitarist and composer Maurizio Grandinetti.
The Festspielhaus St. Pölten presents about 70 productions each season. Over 70,000 guests attend the performances every year. About 4,000 people are owners of season tickets for the Festspielhaus St. Pölten.
During the festivals keyboard music, Polifonica, Nox Illuminata and Österreich TANZT artists like Marianne Mendt
Marianne Mendt
Marianne Mendt is an Austrian jazz singer and actress, best known for her participation in the 1971 Eurovision Song Contest.- Early career :...
, Joy Fleming
Joy Fleming
Joy Fleming is a German singer who is probably best-known for her performance in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1975...
, Katia and Marielle Labèque
Katia and Marielle Labèque
The French sisters Labèque, Katia and Marielle , form an internationally known piano duo. They have performed and recorded most of the repertoire for two pianos, spanning the instrumental, chamber, and concerto genres encompassing musical periods from Baroque through contemporary.Katia and...
, Andreas Staier
Andreas Staier
Andreas Staier is a German pianist and harpsichordist.-Life:Staier studied piano and harpsichord in the Hochschule für Musik in Hanover, with Kurt Bauer and Erika Haase for piano and from Lajos Rovatkay for harpsichord, and also in Amsterdam. From 1983 until 1986 he was the harpsichord soloist for...
and Take 6
Take 6
Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel music sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group sings in a contemporary style, integrating R&B and jazz influences into their devotional songs and has 10 Grammy wins, 10 Dove Awards, one Soul Train Award and two...
will be performing in Festspielhaus.
The Festspielhaus aims to offer children and young people experience-orientated access to cultural programmes. It offers workshops, school performances, opera workshops and youth projects. In the past season newly opened performance venues and sites for exchanges between the audience and the artists have become locations for cultural provision in the best sense of the word: Box, Café Publik, Jugendklub/300, Forbidden City, parcours, workshop series, Daily CyberSoaps of CyberLab 2010 and tango. Through the immediacy of the newly conceived stages in the Box and Café Publik and through the numerous workshops and labs on the two rehearsal stages, all these formats have offered visitors the opportunity to participate intensively in the artistic events. With various participatory projects it has been possible to include people of all age groups in artistic processes and to promote their involvement with social issues, their creative attitude to and sensitisation for music and dance.
Café Publik, curated by Andreas Fränzl, was opened in September 2009 and has already established itself as a performance venue, a workshop and communication platform.
Every Wednesday – four times a month – the tango community gathers in the café and on the rehearsal stages. On Tuesday the Café's Choir does its weekly rehearsal. From Thursday to Saturday the stage in the Café Publik is completely taken over by the creative minds in the city, when everyone is invited to discussion rounds, games evenings, live-music karaoke, poetry slams, literature and film lectures and culinary evenings. Parties, DJ lines and small-format concerts like Trouble Over Tokyo
Trouble Over Tokyo
Trouble Over Tokyo is the solo-project of singer/producer Toph Taylor. Having released two albums to date, Trouble Over Tokyo's music has been described as "Indielectro Angst-Pop" - and is most recognized for Taylor's voice, quirky Alternative/R&B production, and hand-drawn artworks...
open intersections between the international programme of the main house and regional artists.
Architecture
The Festspielhaus St. Pölten was designed by Austrian architect Klaus Kada. It contains four halls, suitable for all different cultural events due to their diverse sizes. At the Festspielhaus St. Pölten one can attend orchestral concerts, dance and music theatre, occasionally also traditional world music and poetical circus.The Große Saal of the Festspielhaus offers 1,063 seats, a standingroom with 70 places, 4 wheelchair places and a stage, that allows music- and dance performances. The dance-season has for instance a number of Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...
's productions like one of Russell Maliphant
Russell Maliphant
Russell Maliphant is a British choreographer who trained at the Royal Ballet School and graduated into Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet before leaving to pursue a career in independent dance. As a performer Maliphant worked with companies such as DV8 Physical Theatre, Michael Clark & Company, Laurie...
, Wayne McGregor Random Dance, William Forsythe
William Forsythe (dancer)
William Forsythe is an American dancer and choreographer resident in Frankfurt am Main in Hessen. He is known internationally for his work with the Ballett Frankfurt and The Forsythe Company...
's Impressing the Czar
Impressing the Czar
Impressing the Czar is an award-winning ballet choreographed by William Forsythe with music by Thom Willems, Leslie Stuck, Eva Crossman-Hecht, and Ludwig van Beethoven...
by the Royal Ballet of Flanders or the Cullberg Ballet
Cullberg Ballet
The Cullberg Ballet is a Swedish contemporary dance company.It was founded by the modern dancer and pioneer choreographer Birgit Cullberg in 1967, who brought it to fame...
as guests. Artists and ensembles of erudite music are Ian Bostridge
Ian Bostridge
Ian Bostridge CBE is an English tenor, well known for his performances as an opera singer and as a song recitalist.-Early life and education:...
, Sarah Chang
Sarah Chang
Sarah Chang is a Korean American violinist. Her debut came in 1989 with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Shortly thereafter, Chang was recognized as a child prodigy. She enrolled at Juilliard School to study music, graduating in 1999 and continuing university studies...
, the Czech Philharmonic, the Dresden Philharmonic under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos is a Spanish conductor and composer.Frühbeck studied violin, piano, and composition at the conservatories of Bilbao and Madrid...
, Martin Fröst
Martin Fröst
Martin Fröst is a Swedish clarinetist, born in Sundsvall in the north of Sweden in 1970. He first started playing the violin at the age of six, but he found playing soccer and basketball were more interesting. When he was nine, he started playing the clarinet, and when he was 15, he moved to...
, the Hagen Quartet
Hagen Quartet
The Hagen Quartet was founded in 1981 by four siblings, Lukas, Angelika , Veronika and Clemens, in Salzburg, Austria.Its current members are:* Lukas Hagen, violin...
, Andreas Haefliger
Andreas Haefliger
Andreas Haefliger is a German-born Swiss pianist.Haefliger was born into a musical family, as the son of famed tenor, Ernst Haefliger. He grew up in Switzerland and later studied at The Juilliard School...
, Chloë Hanslip
Chloe Hanslip
Chloë Elise Hanslip is a British violinist.Chloë was born in Guildford, Surrey and has been playing the violin since she was two. At the age of four she performed solo at the Purcell Room. When she was five she performed for Yehudi Menuhin and subsequently, at his invitation, studied with Natasha...
, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Christiane Oelze
Christiane Oelze
Christiane Oelze is a German soprano. From 2003 to 2008 she taught singing at the Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf.- External links :* *...
, Luba Orgonasova
Luba Orgonasova
L'ubica Orgonášová is a Slovak operatic soprano, who is particularly known for her interpretation of Mozart roles....
, Chen Reiss
Chen Reiss
Chen Reiss is a soprano opera singer, particularly known for her portrayal of Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto. She is a frequent performer with the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and has worked under the Argentine conductor Daniel Barenboim.Her solo CD with songs and arias by...
, Simona Houda-Saturova
Simona Houda-Šaturová
Simona Houda-Šaturová is a Slovak classical soprano who has had an active international career performing in operas, concerts, and recitals since the early 1990s. In 2001 she was honored with a Thalia Award and in 2007 she won the Charlotte and Walter Hamel Award for outstanding vocal achievement...
, Lars Vogt
Lars Vogt
-Career:Lars Vogt studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling. He rose to prominence after winning second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Piano Competition and has since gone on to give major concerto and recital performances. In the 2003/04 season he...
, Cristina Zavalloni
Cristina Zavalloni
Cristina Zavalloni is a contemporary Italian singer and composer who focuses primarily on jazz and experimental music....
or Ivan Zenaty
Ivan Ženatý
Ivan Ženatý is a Czech violinist.He studied at the Prague Conservatory, there he has made his debutwith the Czech Philharmonics. Since 1988 he has been collaborating in private lessons with Josef Suk...
; popular music is presented by Rabih Abou-Khalil
Rabih Abou-Khalil
-Life:Rabih Abou-Khalil grew up in Beirut and moved to Munich, Germany during the civil war in 1978. He lives part-time in Munich and part-time in the South of France with his wife and two children.-Music:...
, Aka Moon
Aka Moon
Aka Moon is a Belgian avant-garde jazz band. Saxophonist Fabrizio Cassol, bassist Michel Hatzigeorgiou, and drummer Stéphane Galland are the founding members of the core trio...
, Fabrizio Cassol
Fabrizio Cassol
Fabrizio Cassol is a Belgian saxophonist and the first user of the aulochrome .He was born in Ougrée, Belgium. Between 1982 and 1985, he studied at the Liège conservatory and obtained a first prize for saxophone while majoring in chamber music. He graduated in improvisation and composition...
, Michel Godard
Michel Godard
Michel Godard is a French tuba player and jazz musician.Godard was admitted at the age of 18 to the Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio-France. His ability to produce overtones and musicality leaves the listener surprised at how light a seemingly cumbersome tuba can sound...
, James Hunter
James Hunter (singer)
James Hunter is a Grammy Award-nominated English R&B musician and soul singer.-Career:Hunter's career began with a band called "Howlin' Wilf and the Vee-Jays," who released their first album in 1986 entitled Cry Wilf. Later he released three more with his own band...
, Angélique Kidjo
Angélique Kidjo
Angélique Kpasseloko Hinto Hounsinou Kandjo Manta Zogbin Kidjo, commonly known as Angélique Kidjo is a Grammy Award–winning Beninoise singer-songwriter and activist, noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos. Time Magazine has called her "Africa's premier diva". The BBC has...
, Mísia
Mísia
Mísia is a Portuguese fado singer, born in 1955 in Porto, Portugal. Mísia is a polyglot. Despite singing mostly fado, she sings some of her themes in Spanish, French, Catalan, English and even Japanese...
or Baba Sissoko
Baba Sissoko
Baba Sissoko is a musician and vocalist. Sissoko is a master of the talking drums...
. For orchestral concerts there has been built a special acoustic shell. By means of subtle mechanical changes the Große Saal offers perfect conditions for dance and its outstanding acoustics provide the best preconditions for concerts and music theatre. The possible adjustments relate to the ceiling, the walls and the proscenium arch. The concert shell is an essential component of the acoustics.
The iron curtain of the Große Saal was designed by the artist Eva Schlegel. It separates the audience from the stage. The size is 20 m width and 10.5 m height. It shows the biggest picture of the country and weighs 14.5 tons.
Besides the big hall there is the Box. A "stage direction gallery" at the east end of the hall holds the technical equipment.
For smaller performances there are two rehearsal stages available:
Rehearsal stage 1 also serves as a concert or lecture hall. It is decorated throughout with black wood panelling. The glazed south façade can be completely darkened by means of wooden slats. The seating is flexible and can be adapted to various types of events (up to 100 seats).
Rehearsal stage 2 is directly above Rehearsal stage 1 and has the same dimensions. It is primarily conceived as a ballet hall, but can also be used as a concert or lecture hall. The ceiling, partly constructed of glass, offers a spectacular view of the sky. The technical facilities are identical to those of the Schönberg-Saal.