With documentaries, special programs, opening highlights, concerts and much more – from December 23rd on ORF 1, ORF 2, ORF III, Ö1 and online
Vienna (OTS) – Not only the annual musical ruler Anton Bruckner, whose 200th birthday will be celebrated widely in 2024, comes from Upper Austria, but also (largely) the European Capital of Culture project “Bad Ischl Salzkammergut 2024”. For the first time in the 37-year history of the European Capital of Culture initiative, an entire region with 23 municipalities is joining together to form the festival venue in order to bring the diversity of historically rooted and contemporary art and culture to the international curtain. “23 for 24” is the motto of the ambitious project with more than 300 events: In fact, there are 23 very different places and small towns in the Upper Austrian and Styrian Salzkammergut, with Bad Ischl as the banner city, that will be making a joint program next year – with positions by female artists and artists from a total of 24 nations. For this cultural occasion, the ORF is creating an annual multimedia focus with, among other things, numerous documentaries, special editions of various magazines, the highlights of the opening weekend (on January 20th and 21st), concerts and much more. The first programs start with the “Christmas hits from Bad Ischl”. on Saturday, December 23rd on ORF 1 and the holiday matinee on St. Stephen’s Day, Tuesday, December 26th, 2023, on ORF 2.
ORF 1 presents the “Christmas hits from Bad Ischl”
Fanny Stapf presents the most beautiful Christmas songs and the most emotional hits live from the spa park in Bad Ischl in the Salzkammergut. Julian le Play & Band, Ina Regen, OSKA and Cesár Sampson perform the Austrians’ favorite Christmas hits together and bring very special versions of the songs directly into Austrian living rooms – goosebumps included! The Advent singing, which can be heard live on Ö3 at 5 p.m., brings the whole country together for a good cause every Christmas. Every donation goes to families in need throughout Austria via the LIGHT IN DUNKEL emergency aid fund.
ORF 2: New Year’s concert with ballet production, documentaries “Ischl personally”, “The Taste of Europe”, Lehár portrait and concert, portrait of Oscar Straus
In the holiday matinee on December 26th, the portrait “Ischl personally” by Bad Ischl native Günter Kaindlstorfer can be seen on ORF 2. This is followed by the feature documentary “Franz Lehár – Always Just Smile” by Thomas Macho about the composer who died in Ischl, whose works made the imperial summer residence an operetta mecca and are still performed today as part of the Lehár Festival Bad Ischl. Finally, the program includes “’Yours is my whole heart’ – the most beautiful melodies by Franz Lehár”, a concert from the Theater an der Wien that was also staged for television by Macho: under the direction of Manfred Honeck, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra plays most beautiful melodies by Franz Lehár. Camilla Nylund, Piotr Beczała and Michael Schade shine on stage as soloists.
The Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Concert on Monday, January 1, 2024, from 11:15 a.m. on ORF 2 also makes reference to the European Capital of Culture “Bad Ischl Salzkammergut 2024” both in its program and in the New Year’s Concert Ballet pre-produced by ORF. For example, the “Ischler Waltz” from the estate of Johann Strauss Sohn, which will be heard for the first time at a New Year’s concert, will be accompanied by a dance performance by the Vienna State Ballet in the Imperial Villa and in the adjacent Marmorschlössl in Bad Ischl. At 10:35 a.m., the making-of documentary “Prelude to the New Year’s Concert,” designed by Thomas Bogensberger, takes a look behind the scenes of the concert and ballet production.
Another TV cultural matinee on Sunday, January 7th, on ORF 2 will once again deal with different aspects of the Salzkammergut: An edition of the ORF series “The Taste of Europe” designed by Florian Gebauer will search for cultural and culinary traces in the region, Afterwards, “Oscar Straus – The Man Without Borders” is the focus of an extraordinary film portrait of the Bad Ischl-born operetta composer, also produced by Thomas Macho.
Opening weekend on ORF 2 and ORF III:
“kulturMontag” highlights documentary, “Culture Today Special”
On the occasion of the big opening weekend on January 20th and 21st, a “kulturMontag” documentary will be presented on January 22nd with the working title “’Culture is the new salt’ – The European Capital of Culture Bad Ischl Salzkammergut 2024” (11:25 p.m., ORF 2). Summary of the highlights of the open-air stage show, which includes Hubert von Goisern, Conchita alias Tom Neuwirth and the dancer and choreographer Doris Uhlich. In between, the responsible artistic director Elisabeth Schweeger, leading curators and artists provide insight into the planning and organization of the major event, which will last several months.
A special “kulturMontag” edition from Bad Ischl is also planned for the spring.
On January 22nd at 7:45 p.m. on ORF III, a “Culture Today Special” will summarize the opening weekend of the Capital of Culture, and the magazine will also report regularly on the events.
Numerous further programs are planned for the Capital of Culture project throughout 2024, such as new ORF III documentaries in the series “Erbe Österreich”, “Heimat Österreich” or “Landleben” about the Salzkammergut as well as various concert productions.
Ö1 annual focus “Bad Ischl Salzkammergut. Capital of Culture 2024”
Ö1 is also accompanying the Capital of Culture year with a variety of programs and the “Ö1 traveling stage”. This offers the opportunity to follow selected artistic performances in a variety of locations. At the opening of the Capital of Culture year on Saturday, January 20, 2024, Daniele Scurati & Stefano Valla, Merve, Yasmo, Mieze Medusa & the Klangkantine, among others, will perform on the “Ö1 Wanderbühne” in the Bad Ischler Trinkhalle from 7 p.m.
The start of the Ö1 annual focus “Bad Ischl Salzkammergut. Capital of Culture 2024” is already on Monday, January 1st, “Opus – The Music Colloquium” (3:05 p.m.) about the musical heritage of the Salzkammergut, which in the 19th century was a retreat for numerous composers who found inspiration in the region and found relaxation. Where will the Capital of Culture take this heritage in 2024? From 7.30 p.m., the ORF RSO Vienna will play an alternative New Year’s concert in Gmunden to kick off the Capital of Culture year. Under the direction of Tobias Wögerer there is danceable music, especially from the 20th century. The recording of the dress rehearsal can be heard at the same time in the “Ö1 Concert”.
“The Salzkammergut – History of a Region” is the topic of the four-part “Radiokolleg” from Monday, January 8th to Thursday, January 11th, from 9:05 a.m. on Ö1 – a historical look back at the cultural history of the Salzkammergut as one of the oldest cultural landscapes Austria, which stretches between Attersee, Bad Ischl and the Ausseerland. On January 8th, “Brine and Salt, God Save!” is about how “white gold” has determined the fate of the region over the centuries. The other programs: “Summer Residence of the Habsburgs” (January 9th), “The Salzkammergut and Politics” (January 10th) and “On the way to the Capital of Culture” (January 11th).
In the “Salzburger Nachtstudio” on Wednesday, January 17th, from 9 p.m., you can hear a conversation with the archaeologist Hans Reschreiter about 7,000 years of settlement history in the Salzkammergut. Rereiter has been working in Hallstatt for around 30 years, and until 2023 he led the excavation and research in the prehistoric salt mine.
On January 18th, “The Ö1 Children’s University” (Thursdays, 4:40 p.m.) will trace the trail of “Life in the rich city of Hallstatt around 3,500 years ago.” On January 25th, it will explore the question “How does the salt come from Mountain in the kitchen?”.
The programs in detail on the Ö1 annual focus “Bad Ischl Salzkammergut. Capital of Culture 2024” are continuously updated and available at https://oe1.ORF.at/kulturhauptstadt2024.
The ORF annual focus in the ORF.at network and in the ORF TELETEXT
The ORF.at network will also accompany the ORF annual focus on the European Capital of Culture “Bad Ischl Salzkammergut 2024” throughout the entire year, for example on news.ORF.at, on ORF Topos with numerous specials, on ORF ON and in the TVthek. Apps or on ORF Sound. ORF TELETEXT also provides detailed information as part of its cultural reporting.