Opening of the festival season in Gars am Kamp with a brilliant Mother’s Day concert by Clemens Unterreiner, Sunnyi Melles and Elias Gillesberger.
Gars am Kamp (OTS) – As part of an enchanting evening full of artistic brilliance, the new director of the BURG GARS opera, Kammersänger Clemens Unterreiner, opened this year’s festival season in the picturesque Babenbergerburg Gars. The star baritone’s Mother’s Day concert together with the former Buhlschaft of the Salzburg Festival, the celebrated stage, TV and film actress Sunnyi Melles, and the up-and-coming pianist Elias Gillesberger offered the audience an unforgettable music and literature experience in the newly adapted, the castle’s historic ballroom.
The heart of Clemens Unterreiner’s premiere season as artistic director of the opera BURG GARS is the summer opera par excellence, “L’elisir d’amore – The Love Potion” by Gaetano Donizetti from July 13th. But with the newly created supporting program KulturBURG, there are plenty of cultural highlights waiting at Gars Castle before and after the opera season. Yesterday’s Mother’s Day concert marked the starting signal for Unterreiner’s first program of the season: „Here we go! I’m really excited because it’s my first festival as director. After so many professional years and premieres, being able to experience something so exciting and new is great and I’m looking forward to a great 2024 season in Gars am Kamp. Let’s OPERA!
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Unterreiner deliberately scheduled the start of KulturBURG on Mother’s Day, as the director reveals: „We all have a lot to thank our mothers for. That’s why I chose Mother’s Day to open the festival season in Gars so that I could say thank you to them with an extraordinary Mother’s Day concert.
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In the presence of Vice Mayor Pauline Uitz and numerous guests of honor, the new director raised his voice in the sold-out ballroom for the first time in Gars and, in keeping with Mother’s Day, interpreted the most beautiful songs by Franz Schubert, Robert Stolz, Robert Schumann, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Franz Lehár, Henry Mancini, Carl Millöcker and George Gershwin on the new ballroom stage.
Alternating with the musical pieces, film and stage star Sunnyi Melles captivated the audience with her cheerful and contemplative lyrics and her distinctive style of recitation. The pianist Elias Gillesberger, who was born in Upper Austria, provided sensitive piano accompaniment on the premium Yamaha S6X grand piano – provided by KulturBURG partner Pianohaus Förstl – and thus contributed significantly to the magical atmosphere of the evening in wonderful early summer weather.
The atmospheric evening dedicated to all mothers was rounded off with a warm gesture: After the end of the concert, Clemens Unterreiner gave all mothers a rose for Mother’s Day and found moving words: „I am very happy to be able to open my first festival as director, especially on Mother’s Day. The fact that I can experience this highlight together with my mom is a true blessing!
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A brilliant opening evening, which was greeted with great applause by the guests – including the historian and sister of the artistic director, Katrin Unterreiner, who will have an exquisite, historical evening together with Leopold Altenburg in the KulturBURG on June 15th.
All highlights of the opera BURG GARS – season 2024: www.operburggars.at
More press photos below https://operburggars.at/presse/ for download (all photos from the Mother’s Day concert © Alexander Ch. Wulz; released free of charge).
Questions & Contact:
BURG GARS Opera, Hauptplatz 80, 3571 Gars am Kamp, E: press@operburggars.at, W: https://operburggars.at/presse/