Movement in space is a basic experience shared by all living things, but for the last 150 years – at least – concerts of classical music have essentially banned it. In 1882, a roller-skating rink in Berlin was converted to the first philharmonic hall, and from that point on, classical concerts were essentially like church: things happened up front, and the audience’s job was to sit still and pay attention. The 36th edition of Wien Modern aims to demolish that norm and return a little freedom of movement to the genre.
The long festival with the short title
Since 1988, Wien Modern has loomed over the Vienna concert season; it’s the biggest festival of “contemporary art music” in Austria and one of the biggest in the world. It sprawls throughout the month of November every year and, over time, has grown ever more adventurous: from the hallowed halls of Vienna’s Konzerthaus, it’s expanded to include (this year) the U-Bahn Passage at Karlsplatz, Tanzquartier, wine cellars, multiple Vienna clubs, and the Stadtpark, among others.
Wien Modern 2023 kicks off with a walk in the (Stadt)park on October 31st, featuring a new composition by Maria Gstättner for [deep breath] “2 brass bands, punk band, pop duo, wind ensemble, drum line, electric guitar, synth, solo bass trombone, and light-based artistic intervention”. We’re not sure what that last thing is, but it sounds like a blast. This to be followed by the official opening concert in all three concert halls of the Vienna Konzerthaus, a piece by Peter Jakober. On November 1st, Georg Friedrich Haas‘s “11,000 Strings” for the Klangforum Wien and 50(!) pianos will premiere…and on it goes. Concerts in Reaktor, in rhiz, in the Brunnenpassage, featuring between feathers, Studio Dan, a tribute to the late Friedrich Cerha, and many, many more.
In short: no one can possibly accuse Wien Modern of thinking too small. It’s an extravaganza of contemporary music, a monthlong, citywide event in the best Vienna pull-out-all-the-stops tradition (see also Kultursommer, Festwochen, etc.). If you’re in Vienna you can’t miss it – which is good, because you won’t want to.
Philip Yaeger