CHAMBER MUSIC NOT JUST
FROM MORITZBURG
MORITZBURG FESTIVAL | 19.05.2011
Four Baroque round towers on a beautifully created island surrounded by a picturesque lake frozen over in the winter: Since the release of the popular Czech-German DEFA coproduction of “Three Gifts for Cinderella” at the very latest, Schloss Moritzburg, north of Dresden, has been the definition of the castle of Prince Charming to both young and old fairy-tale lovers all over Europe. Of course, the evocatively dreamy film music of Karel Svoboda played no small part in this.
Jan Vogler and his team also saw this idyllic location as the perfect backdrop for making a musical dream reality. It was in the early 90s that the musician, who today counts among the most-respected cellists in the world, first knocked on the massive gates of the Moritzburg Castle with an ebony bow and a bold idea in his cello case. Looking back, the Dresden-born New Yorker by choice, who is so used to success, would never have expected the gates to suddenly stand as wide open to him and his international musical accompaniment as they did. Indeed, they were so wide open that in the Moritzburg Festival Academy, which was founded in 2004, they had an additional highlight that would go on to become a permanent fixture in the festival line-up.
Young artists between 16 and 26 years of age from all over the world would get the chance to practice with internationally known artists, devise concert programmes and present them to a wide audience. The concept took off. Its great international reputation means that being accepted to the Academy today, which forms itself anew each year, is one hot ticket.
Jan Vogler and his ideas also won over “Die Gläserne Manufaktur”, which has been the main sponsor of the Chamber Music Festival since 2002 and has provided the stage for the opening concert. And this concert, incidentally, has been given since 2004 by the members of the Moritzburg Festival Academy – as the, so to speak, highlight of their two-week collaboration.
Further beneficiaries of the partnership with the Moritzburg Festival are, again, the budding musicians: Traditionally, on the day before the opening concert, the same venue plays host to the family concert – for music enthusiasts aged three or over.
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