The sounding treasures of the rich church landscape in the region between Miesbach, Bad Tölz and Rosenheim will be in the spotlight at the 1st International Oberland Organ Festival. The concert series starts on Saturday.
Miesbach
- The churches in the region have real treasures to offer inside - and that doesn't mean the often magnificent furnishings. This year, a festival is focusing on sound wonders that otherwise only the initiated know about: the organs. The 1st International Oberland Organ Festival begins at the weekend with an opening concert organized by the artistic director of the event series, Johannes Skudlik, with a string quartet made up of members of the BR Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, April 13th, in the Waitzinger Keller in Miesbach.
On the initiative of the cultural office of the city of Miesbach together with the internationally active conductor and organist Johannes Skudlik, the most beautiful organs in the Oberland between the Inntal and Isarwinkel will be presented to the wider public for the first time in a concert cycle at the festival until the end of November. Top-class international concert organists from five European countries will awaken many a relatively unknown but high-quality instrument in the foothills of the Alps from their slumber in concert. The fact that there are high-class organs in many of these art-historically important churches in the region is by no means a given, explains head of the cultural department Isabella Krobisch: “A wealth that should receive attention beyond the narrow circle of specialists!” Also attending organ concerts outside of your own place of residence definitely worth it.
Top-class concerts in churches between Bad Tölz and Rosenheim
At the Oberland Organ Festival, the focus is on instruments that are evidence of excellent organ construction from both past centuries and the more recent past. When selecting the concert locations, the Skudlik consciously paid attention to diversity. The former Bavarian Minister of Culture Thomas Goppel took over the patronage. Between April 13th and November 23rd, 2024 there will be 15 concerts on high-class organs.
Skudlik, who has his roots in the district town as the son of the former art teacher at the Miesbacher Gymnasium, Heinrich Skudlik, will take over on Saturday: the internationally active concert organist will perform on the chest organ at the opening concert from 8 p.m. in the Waitzinger Keller. Together with a string quartet with Radoslaw Szulc, Stefano Farulli, Mathias Schessl and Andreas Schmalhofer - all members of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra - he plays works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, including "Kleine Nachtmusik", and Johann Sebastian Bach as well as on the eve of the 275th. On the anniversary of the death of George Frideric Handel, his concerto for organ and string quartet in F major, Opus 4/4, in his own arrangement. Tickets for 19 euros are available in advance from Waitzinger Keller, e.g. 0 80 25 / 7 00 00 and ticket@waitzinger-keller.de, or at the box office.
The further stations of the Oberland Organ Festival 2024
Saturday, April 27th, 7 p.m., Schliersee-Neuhaus, Apostle Petrus Church, Josefsthaler Str 6 a: Bärbel Pischetsrieder (soprano) and Andrea Wehrmann (organ) with works by Bach, Mozart and Lefébure-Wély (free entry, donations asked for)
Saturday, May 4th, 7 p.m., Bad Tölz, Mariä Himmelfahrt, Frauenfreithof 2: Donato Cuzzato (organ), Italy, with works by Bach, Scarlatti, Petrali (free entry, donations requested)
Sunday, June 23rd, 5 p.m., Hausham St. Antonius, Naturfreundstr. 5: Bernadetta Sunavská (organ), Slovakia, with works by Mendelsohn Bartholdy, César Franck, Franz Schmidt (free entry, donations requested)
Sunday, June 30th, 6 p.m., Schliersee, St. Sixtus, Lautererstr. 1: Bärbel Pischetsrieder, Andrea Wehrmann, Uschi Bommer, Bettina Schoeller, Timm Tzschaschel with works by Tzschaschel, Stanley and Pärt (free entry, donations requested)
Sunday, July 7th, 7 p.m., Miesbach, parish church of the Assumption of Mary, Pfarrgasse 4: Axel Flierl (organ) and Georg Hiemer (trumpet) with works by Bach, Pasini, Marcello and Telemann (free entry, donations requested)
Friday, July 19th, 7:30 p.m., Wall, St. Margareth, St. Margarethenweg 4: Fabio Ciofini (organ) and Alessandra Montani (cello), Italy, with works by Platti, Marcello, Bononcini and Vivaldi (free entry, donations requested )
Sunday, August 4, 7 p.m.; Miesbach, Apostle Church, Rathausstraße 8: Hansjörg Albrecht (organ) with works by JS Bach (free entry, donations requested)
Sunday, August 11th, 7 p.m., Lenggries, St. Jakob, Kirchstraße 4: Ugo Spanu (organ), Italy, with works by Bach, Mozart and Mendelssohn (free entry, donations requested)
Sunday, August 18th, 6 p.m., Schliersee, St. Sixtus, Lautererstraße 1: Ann-Helena Schlüter (organ), with works by Bach and Liszt (free admission, donations requested)
Saturday, September 14th, 7 p.m., Miesbach-Parsberg, St. Laurentius, Laurenziweg 4: Carlos Paterson (organ), Spain, with works by Bach, Cabanilles, Arauxo (free entry, donations requested)
Sunday, September 29th, 7 p.m., Rosenheim, St. Nikolaus, Ludwigsplatz 3: Winfried Lichtscheidel (organ) with works by Bach, Buxtehude, Mozart (free admission, donations requested)
Sunday, October 20th, 5 p.m., Kolbermoor, Holy Trinity, Rainerstr. 6: Bernhard Buttmann (organ) with works by Reger and Rheinberger (free entry, donations requested)
Sunday, November 17th, 3 p.m., Valley, Organ Center, Graf-Arco-Str. 30: Andrzej Chorosiński (organ), Poland, with works by Bach and Nowowiejski (free entry, donations requested)
Saturday, November 23rd, 8 p.m., Miesbach, Waitzinger Keller Cultural Center, Schlierseer Str. 16: Paolo Oreni (Italy) and Johannes Skudlik on the “Wanderer” organ with works by Bach, Liszt and improvisation organ/piano (tickets on 08025/ 7000-0, ticket@waitzinger-keller.de)