On Friday 16th December 2011 Wolfgang Panhofer will play Gottfried von Einem's Music for Solo-Cello op. 108 in Alte Schmiede, 1010 Wien, Schönlaterngasse 9. Furthermore on the programme: works by Michael Hazod and Edwin Baumgartner

The CD „Gute Ratschläge" presenting songs and choir pieces accompanied by guitar and works for guitar solo by Gottfried von Einem - starring: Robert Holl (bass baritone), Alexander Kaimbacher (tenor), Gerhard Löffler (guitar), Vocalensemble S. Catarinae (choir) led by Holger Kristen - will be featured on the Austrian radio on 28th October 2011 at 10 a. m. („Intrada" with Johannes Leopold Mayer)

In concerts on 29th and 30th September and 1st and 2nd October 2011 the Berlin Philharmonic - conductor Zubin Mehta - performed Orchestermusik op. 9 by Gottfried von Einem. The concert was broadcast in the Digital Concert Hall  .

Young musicians performed Gottfried von Einem: In a concert in Pölz-Halle Amstetten on Saturday, 17th September 2011, Jugendsinfonieorchester Niederösterreich and conductor Ernst Kovacic played Capriccio op.2 by Gottfried von Einem. Further programme: works by P. I. Tschaikowskij, Benjamin Britten, Zoltán Kodály and Josef Strauß.  

The new CD „Gute Ratschläge" presents songs and choir pieces accompanied by guitar and works for guitar solo by Gottfried von Einem. Starring: Robert Holl (bass baritone), Alexander Kaimbacher (tenor), Gerhard Löffler (guitar), Vocalensemble S. Catarinae (choir) led by Holger Kristen. For order please contact ger.loeffler@aon.at or DaCapo KlassiK in 1010 Wien, Seilerstätte 30

In May 2011 Stadttheater Gießen presented Gottfried von Einems opera "Der Besuch der Alten Dame". Conductor: Herbert Gietzen. stage direction: Cathérine Miville. stage setting and design: Lukas Noll. costumes: Bettina Munzer. Starring: Caroline Whisnant (Claire Zachanassian), Odilia Vandercruysse (Alfred Ill's daughter); Dan Chamandy (mayor), Edward Gauntt (Alfred Ill), Vojtech Halicki-Alicca (butler), Alexander Herzog (Koby), Matthias Ludwig (doctor), Thomas Stückemann (Loby), Tomi Wendt (teacher) etc. Philharmonic Orchestra Gießen. Choir and extra choir of Stadttheater Gießen. See Website of Stadttheaters Gießen for reviews.

In April 2011 Geistliche Sonate op. 38 was presented in a concert of Spring Festival at the Golden Hall of Musikverein Vienna. Soloists: Iveta Apkalna (Latvia, organ), Ildiko Raimondi (Austria, soprano), Gabor Boldoczki (Poland, trumpet). CD will be produced.

Festive concert of Internationale Donauphilharmonie in Zlin (Czech Republic)) in March 2011 presenting Orchestersuite op. 6a "Dantons Tod"

In November 2010 Gottfried von Einem's Piano Concerto op. 20 was performed at Musikverein Vienna: Soloist Konstantin Lifschitz was accompanied by the RSO (Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna) conducted by Cornelius Meister.

In October 2010 Gottfried von Einem's masterpiece "Dantons Tod" was presented by Neue Oper Wien at Museumsquartier Vienna and received high acclamation by public and press. Conductor: Walter Kobéra, stage direction: Leonard Prinsloo, stage setting and design: Gabriele Attl, costumes: Devi Saha, light design: Norbert Chmel, Georges Danton: Mathias Hausmann, Robespierre: Alexander Kaimbacher, Camille Desmoulins: Markus Miesenberger, Hérault: Gernot Heinrich, Lucile: Jennifer Davison, Julie // Ein Weib: Anna Clare Hauf, Simon // Herrmann: Andreas Kammerzelt, St-Juste: Rupert Bergmann, amadeus ensemble vienna, wiener kammerchor. For press reactions (German only) have a look at Die Presse (Wilhelm Sinkovicz) / Der Standard (Daniel Ender) / Wiener Zeitung (Marion Eigl) / Oberösterreichische Nachrichten / Heinz Sichrovsky in "News": "Eine unfassbare Verschwendung. Anders kann das Abhandenkommen der Werke Gottfried von Einems aus den Opernspielplänen nicht bezeichnet werden."

In November 2009 ORFEO released a new CD with works by Gottfried von Einem. Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna (RSO) performs under the baton of its future chief conductor, Cornelius Meister. The soloist in the piano concerto is Konstantin Lifschitz. This CD is co-produced by the Austrian Radio (ORF), ORFEO and the G.v. Einem Foundation. The recording has attracted significant attention; it is also the first CD documentation of the RSO performing with its new chief conductor (see review below)

Von Einem Piano Concerto
CD review on klassik.com
by Dr. Jürgen Schaarwächter
10 March 2010

Translation:
The Austrian composer Gottfried von Einem (1918-1996) experienced a renaissance in the last twenty to twenty-five years, not least thanks to the efforts of the Austrian Radio ORF and the Munich label Orfeo. After the Second World War, Einem became an icon of contemporary Austrian music: His operas Danton's Death and The Trial were premiered at the Salzburg Festival and The Old Lady's Visit was first performed by the Vienna State Opera. This CD presents Gottfried von Einem equally as composer for the orchestra and for the stage. The opening suite from the opera Danton's Death (1947) conveys Einem's sensitivity for the stage and whets the appetite for the complete recording (conducted by Lothar Zagrosek, also on the Orfeo label). The interpretation sparkles with energy, rhythmic precision and instrumental sophistication. Sounds are finely shaded and, where necessary, robustly handled. Einem's music, even if occasionally 'twelve-tonish', is accessible and modern in the best sense - similar to that of his contemporary Rolf Liebermann.

Two shorter orchestral pieces - Wandlungen op. 21 (1956) and Nachtstück op. 29 (1960) must also be considered 'early works': Einem's oeuvre extends to op.111, written in the year of his death. Wandlungen is a relaxed, humorous miniature, almost seven minutes long and inspired by 'Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen' from The Magic Flute (it is one of twelve pieces composed in homage during the Mozart Year for the Donaueschinger Musiktage). Nachtstück is an evocative nature piece that could just has well have found its place as the slow movement of a symphony. Both works tend to be backward-looking in their musical gestures while at the same time demonstrating Einem's compositorial mastery and profound integrity: There is nothing contrived or affected about this music - what he wrote, came straight from his soul. In January 1957, Einem's ballet Medusa was premiered by the Vienna State Opera. The selection of orchestral pieces as presented here is stylistically oriented after the excerpts from Danton's Death. The opening movement and the Prestissimo on track 12 demonstrate the subtlety of orchestral shading and gradation.

The centerpiece and highlight of the CD is the (first) Piano Concerto: This was premiered in 1956 by Boris Blacher's wife Gerty Herzog and is also available from Orfeo in a live recording conducted by Herbert von Karajan. The music is filled with charm and wit, power and energy - anyone who ever heard Gerty Herzog can sense how much it was composed 'for her fingers'. Konstantin Lifschitz' interpretation of the piano part is perhaps a little more masculine, and together with him, the Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna reaches absolute top form. The orchestra's public profile has only intermittently been supported by CD recordings. This is highly regrettable, since both its repertoire and its interpretatorial qualities leave nothing to be desired. In September 2010, Cornelius Meister, at present musical director of the Philharmonic Orchestra Heidelberg, will succeed Bertrand de Billy who has put the RSO splendidly back on the map. Meister proves himself a master of his craft and we hope that he will not get lost in the banalities of standard repertoire.
An extremely informative booklet and a flawless recording technique round off the merits of this CD, which will hopefully form the beginning of a veritable Einem series.

English translation: Gudrun Winkler