Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Festival regains audience after three years

Schwerin (dpa/mv) – The Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Festival is slowly winning back its audience after three years with a limited program due to the corona and decimated space.

According to artistic director Ursula Haselböck, four weeks before the opening concert on June 17 in Neubrandenburg, almost a fifth of all events are sold out. “We have set up waiting lists for these. But numerous concerts, especially the big ones, can still be booked at the moment. With our new ticket shop online until the day of the event,” said Haselböck of the German Press Agency in Schwerin. She took over the direction of the festival in September 2020 and is now looking forward to her first season without restrictions.

The Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is one of the largest classical music festivals in Germany. From mid-June to mid-September, 134 concerts and events are on the programme. Classical stars such as violinists Julia Fischer and Viviane Hagner, cellist Daniel Müller-Schott and pianist Alfred Brendel are again expected this summer. On the occasion of his 50th birthday, a musical festival will be dedicated to the exceptional violinist Daniel Hope, who has been loyal to the festival as an interpreter and consultant for many years.

The focus of the season is Lithuanian accordionist Martynas Levickis, who will play 26 concerts alone as the winner in residence.

The actors Martina Gedeck and Klaus-Maria Brandauer will appear as reciters and orchestras such as the NDR Elbphilharmonie, the New Century Chamber Orchestra San Francisco or the Academy of St Martin in the Fields will fill the halls with their sound. Musical border crossings are also planned, among others with the trumpeter Till Brönner and the singer Gisbert zu Knyphausen. Haselböck was convinced that one of the festival’s strengths lies in the variety of concert formats and locations.

At a total of 85 venues in the state, which can accommodate between 100 and 9000 guests, the festival invites you to events this summer. The picnic concerts at the state stud in Redefin, the concerts in the festival barn in Ulrichshusen and in the parks of Bothmer near Klütz and Göhren-Lebbin on Fleesensee are traditionally particularly popular with the public.

Venues are, above all, churches, workshops and converted barns, in which young musicians can also try out their skills as part of the Young Elite competition. Previous winners, including Julia Fischer, Daniel Hope, Igor Levit and Martynas Levickis, are regularly invited to the festival.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:230522-99-778849/2