Founder of the Roggenstein series: "People are still afraid of concerts"

Created: 07/01/2022, 09:30

By: Ulrike Osman

Mystical chapel of St. Georg zu Roggenstein: The location alone promises a special experience - when it's not Corona.

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It is one of the musical highlights in the region: the annual early music concert series in and around St. Georg zu Roggenstein.

An interview.

Eichenau – Without Christian Brembeck, now an internationally renowned musician, this event would never have happened.

He makes for a top-class cast.

But things have been looking very bleak since Corona.

It's been 22 years since Christian Brembeck launched the annual Roggenstein concert series.

At that time he was still a church musician in the Eichenau-Alling parish association.

As an internationally sought-after musician, the 62-year-old has now brought many top-class colleagues to Eichenau.

He now lives in Berlin, but he takes part in the Roggenstein concerts himself, and he doesn't let that take him away.

In the Tagblatt interview, Brembeck reveals why he likes coming back to the region, how he likes it in Berlin and what fulfills his life besides music.

How did the concerts start again after the pandemic break?

The series had become a real magnet, but a black hole has opened up since Corona.

Our audience tends to belong to the older generation.

I think people are still afraid to go to events.

Or they got used to the restrictions.

I hope that the number of visitors will level off at a usable level again, because I would like to continue the concert series.

There I explain the background of the pieces in order to convey the beauty and depth of this music to the audience beyond the listening experience.

You are internationally celebrated as a musician.

Is it sentimentality that still draws you to Eichenau?

I studied in Munich.

A fellow student knew an older couple in Eichenau from whom we could rent a house.

We were allowed to make noise - in other words, practice our instruments.

I started a family in Eichenau and was a church musician for 17 years.

The place has become my home.

The move to Berlin in 2017 only came about because my wife took on a professorship at the University of the Arts there.

How did your life change when you moved from Eichenau to Berlin?

I now feel very comfortable here.

Once you understand the Berlin mentality, you realize that the people are actually very cordial despite their cheekiness.

But it's really difficult to be a freelance musician here.

I praise Munich as a great art city.

In Berlin, the options are not nearly as extensive because there is simply not enough money.

So I travel a lot, but it's always been like that.

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You play organ, piano and harpsichord and are a conductor.

What is the most fun?

I can't say.

The organ is my original instrument, I studied organ and piano.

The harpsichord as a special instrument for baroque music is also close to my heart.

I still own a harpsichord that I built myself as a student.

I've been offered a lot of money for this, but I won't give it up.

It would be like selling a piece of my soul.

As a conductor, I haven't had that much to do since Corona.

There were dozens of cancellations, and we still don't have any real planning security for the coming autumn either.

We cultural workers are not treated well by politicians.

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FFB newsletter.)

Do you practice each of your instruments every day?

No, I play each instrument more periodically.

But I always practice my repertoire, at least two to four hours a day.

It not only has to be in the fingers, it also has to be in the head.

I suffer from an incurable eye disease and am beginning to have trouble reading music.

That's why I want to know everything more or less by heart.

Since when did you actually know that you wanted to be a musician?

I am the eldest of five children of a Lower Bavarian village school teacher.

We didn't have a piano at home, but when I was ten or eleven I would stand there with my mouth open when the organist was practicing in our church.

At some point she gave me the key to the church and let me try out the organ on my own.

So I taught myself a lot until I came to a music high school in the 7th grade.

I had a lot of catching up to do, but later I got the best music Abitur of my year in Bavaria.

What do you do when you are not involved in music?

I take care of my sweet little son from second marriage.

He's almost four years old.

It's like a lap of honor – I already have four children from my first marriage.

Today, as a father, I am more relaxed and enjoy it very much.

I also like to read and cook, listen to music and socialize.

And I'm at an age now where I look back on my life from time to time.

My brother died of a heart attack at the age of 52, so it makes you think.

Church instead of chapel: Because of Corona, the actual venue is still taboo

Actually, one of the special features of the concert series was the venue: the medieval Roggenstein Chapel between Eichenau and Emmering.

But because of the pandemic, performances will continue to take place in larger venues.

The next concert is this Sunday, July 3rd, at 7:30 p.m. in the Eichenau Church of the Guardian Angel.

Christian Brembeck will play works for two harpsichords by Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Handel and Johann Ludwig Krebs with his former fellow student Franz Schnieringer (Straubing).

The two interpreters have made arrangements for two keyboard instruments of the minuet of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 and of the famous second concerto for double choir orchestra ("Concerto a due cori") written by Georg Friedrich Handel.

These will also sound.

The instruments used are two very sonorous replicas of Italian models from the 17th century.

Admission to this concert is 20 euros, and there are discounts for pupils and students.

Pre-orders can be made at the e-mail address christian@brembeck.net, remaining tickets are available at the box office.

Anyone who wants to see the chapel can also do so on this Sunday.

It is open for viewing from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

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You can find more current news from the district of Fürstenfeldbruck at Merkur.de/Fürstenfeldbruck.