NÖN: The 24th edition of Glatt & Verkehrt starts today in Krems in a compressed version, in the nutshell, as you say. What is the essence of the festival that you wanted to keep?
Albert Hosp: The essence is the closeness between music and audience. It was important to us to set an example, regardless of whether 20 people were allowed to attend a concert or 750. In the course of the quick planning, I came to the realization that the spirit can be maintained and we have succeeded, a large arc to span with only eight acts in five days.
And the spectrum ranges from pop soul (Lou Asril) to Slovakian jazz (Bashavel) to folk music (The 4 Ausseer violinists) and blues (Alex Miksch) …
Hosp: The stylistic range is really very large for a small replacement program. Alex Miksch, for example, is a hidden gem of the music scene. I find his program “With ana Toschn voi Krems” touching, courageous and exciting at the same time. He dedicated a song cycle to his hometown. Alex Miksch simply has the gift of turning places into moods. This man just has to go on stage, and he will do that for us on July 26th. together with musician colleagues like the great Jelena Popržan.
What are you particularly looking forward to?
Hosp: I am incredibly looking forward to going on stage and being able to say: “Welcome to the 24th Glatt & Verkehrt Festival.” Because until April or May it was simply not a matter of course whether the festival could take place.
What do you wish for next year’s 25th edition?
Hosp: There are several wishes that I have. I want us to be able to find a form in which the festival can shine as it once did. This has to be a new form, because after Covid-19 nothing will probably be the way it was. And then I wish to be able to bring the artists who were planned this year and who would have come from Italy or Cyprus to Austria next year. This year’s festival in the nutshell is definitely a wish fulfilled.
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