Musical Destinations
The Richard Strauss Festival celebrates the German composer while providing an idyllic escape from the daily grind, finds Michael Beek
Michael Beek enjoys a trip to Garmisch-partenkirchen
Walking through the Bavarian town of Garmischpartenkirchen leaves you breathless. It’s not just the altitude, it’s the sheer beauty of the place. During my visit in the early summer, the view seems to grow increasingly beautiful as the days go by, the clouds retreating to reveal yet more blue sky and innumerable mountain tops. It’s no wonder composer Richard Strauss chose to call it home.
Strauss moved here in 1906 and built a villa from the money he’d made from Salome; it would be a much-needed retreat for the family, away from society and business life. It was also a huge inspiration – the peaks, valleys and streams towering over and running through much of his orchestral music. During the 40 years he lived in Garmisch he wrote some of his most famous works, including Rosenkavalier, the Alpine Symphony and Metamorphosen.
That connection is celebrated by the Richard Strauss Festival, which is celebrating its 30th birthday during my June stay.
You’d be forgiven for not knowing about it, as it’s been something of a local affair; but that’s not to say it hasn’t attracted big names over the years. Today, under the artistic direction of conductor Alexander Liebreich it remains a small festival, but one with a big vision. And that vision, says Liebreich, is based on Strauss’s own concept of what a festival should be.
‘Strauss had a different approach when he founded the Salzburg Festival [in 1920],’ he tells me. ‘He programmed a play and conducted Don Giovanni in the first year, and he loved Baroque music. So he was not only there to conduct his work; he brought different things together, because he wanted to have the inspiration of writers, of other art, of the discussion.’
Liebreich’s festival, which features spoken word, jazz, classical and just a bit of Strauss, is a shared experience of listening, eating and drinking, and having a conversation. Much like Strauss’s own retreat from the everyday, Liebreich sees the festival as a means of escape, a chance to reconnect with people, nature and music, well away from the demands of modern life. With such stunning natural locations at its disposal, it’s not hard to do.
These are unique strengths that should stand the festival in good stead, though putting on a festival in a small rural town remains a challenge, says Richard Strauss Institute chief Dominik Sedivy. ‘There is no opera house here, not even a large concert hall. There are top-class orchestras nearby (Bayerischer Rundfunk, Munich Philharmonic), opera houses (Bavarian State Opera) and the world’s biggest classical music summer festival (Salzburg). These institutions are hard to compete with. But what we can provide is a focus on one of this country’s most beautiful landscapes, nature and the place of retreat and inspiration of Richard Strauss.’
Those landscapes are at the heart of what makes this festival special, and while the more traditional concerts in small locations around the town offer great musicians and wonderful programmes, it’s when the music steps outside that things get even more impressive. The 2019 festival’s most over-subscribed event is the ‘Musical Walk’, an Alpine trek with musicians, while the crowning glory is the piano concert at the summit of the mighty Zügspitze, Germany’s highest mountain. Two hundred of us scale the 3,000m peak – albeit in a cable car – for one unforgettable evening; incredible views, fine dining and a recital of Bach and Beethoven by Piotr Anderszewski. This is living the high life in every sense.
It is the first time an event on that scale has been organised and pulling it off is no small feat. Its success is testament to the openess of local leadership, not to mention the tenacity and vision of Liebreich and his team. And their plans for 2020’s festival are just as ambitious. When we meet, ahead of our trip up the mountain, Liebreich fills me in on a few future festival plans and themes.
‘Humanism will be the centrepiece next year,’ he explains, ‘and we also have the Beethoven year. We’ll be doing Fidelio with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, and I’m hoping baritone Thomas Hampson will come for a masterclass.’
2019’s masterclasses see a handful of young sopranos from Germany, Japan and the US work on Strauss songs with soprano Felicity Lott. The small audience of local Strauss aficionados is perhaps more a reflection of the festival as it has been in previous years, but the focus on young talent is very much part and parcel of what the modern festival is all about. Aside from the classes, young musicians perform in showcase concerts as part of the wider festival’s rich programme.
It may not yet have a concert venue of international standing, but what Garmisch-partenkirchen may lack in facilities, it makes up for in its great pride in its association with Richard Strauss and the outstanding natural wonders that inspired some of the 20th century’s greatest orchestral tone poems.
Further information: the 2020 Richard Strauss Festival takes place from 19-28 June. Visit richard-strauss-festival.de
The crowning glory is a piano recital at the summit of the mighty Zügspitze