The Power of Wonder

Mahler Forum

7.-8. July 2023 / klagenfurter ensemble / kärnten.museum / Gustav Mahler Komponierhäuschen Maiernigg

Entitled The Power of Wonder – Astonishment as a Driving Force for Community Building, the 2023 Mahler Forum devotes itself to astonishment as a motor of thought and its relevance for democratic processes: shared wonder as a wake-up call, as a boundary experience, as an instrument of analysis, and as a bridge between sensation and realisation. Visitors and participants alike are encouraged to think and discuss together in amazement from the perspectives of the visual arts, music, literature, the humanities, and the natural sciences. Musical contributions will alternate with keynotes, performances, artistic interventions, and open rounds of talks.

The composition “Ode to …” by the Korean composer Ingi Kim is based on the finale of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Friedrich Schiller’s text Ode to Joy, which has been reinterpreted by the artist and writer Sarah Rinderer. Alma Mahler Musikverein Ensemble worked closely with both artists and premiered the composition.

More Info about the Mahler Forum you can find here.

Listen to our conversation about “The Power of Wonder” with Morten Solvik at The Mahler Hour. More Info about the Mahler Foundation you can find here.

Program:
Johann Friedrich Reichardt: An die Freunde from Lieder geselliger Freude (1796)
Kristina Presker (Sopran), Irina Otto (Mezzosopran), Igor Golob (Tenor), Marijan Novak (Bariton), Valeria Liaskovets (Piano)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Die Ehre Gottes aus der Natur, op. 48, No. 4 (1802)
Alma Mahler: Ekstaze (1924)
Irina Otto (Mezzosopran), Valeria Liaskovets (Piano)

Ingi Kim (composition), Sarah Rinderer (text): Ode to … (2023, premiere)
Steven Vrbanec (Tuba), Lukas Aldrian (Percussion), Ivana Tripković (Piano), Andi Pogačnik (Violoncello), Nikola Meyer (Double Bass), Kristina Presker (Sopran), Irina Otto (Mezzosopran), Igor Golob (Tenor), Marijan Novak (Bariton),  Alja Klemenc (Conductor)