Salzburg Festival: Somber Tones from Philharmonic Musicians

Attendees seeking lightheartedness at the Salzburg Festival were met with a somber program on Monday, as tenor Julian Prégardien and twelve members of the Vienna Philharmonic presented a "mourning program." The concert opened with Arvo Pärt's "Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten," accompanied by loud coughs from the audience that, unusually, seemed to complement the piece's evocation of illness and death. The string players expanded Pärt's characteristic triads, filling the venue with their musical laments.

The program then shifted to Benjamin Britten's Serenade op. 31 for tenor, horn, and string orchestra, a highlight of the evening. Composed during World War II, the piece reflects the era's darkness. Prégardien delivered Britten's "night music" with piercing clarity, minimal vibrato, and precise intonation, seemingly performing from memory and deeply feeling the text. His agile tenor, though not overwhelmingly powerful, perfectly suited the piece, avoiding being drowned out by a large orchestra and easily reaching high notes, even in delicate pianissimos. Horn player Josef Reif proved an equally skilled partner, navigating long phrases and rapid passages with ease.

The ensemble size decreased further in the second half. Richard Wagner's Prelude to "Tristan und Isolde," arranged for string sextet, sounded naked, fragile, and intensely moving. This was followed by Richard Strauss's "Metamorphosen" in a version for string septet. For 30 minutes, the seven string players conveyed the composer's bitter grief over war-torn Germany in 1945. The reduced ensemble did not detract from the piece; the musicians played with soloistic intensity, their sound more accusatory than merely mournful. Each musician demonstrated the caliber of a renowned soloist, yet they brought the collaborative experience of daily orchestral playing to the performance, creating a top-tier ensemble worthy of Salzburg's grand stage.