The big Würzburg classical music festival will not be able to take place as planned. How the director intends to offer as much program as possible for four weeks from May 29.
What was in sight is now certain: the Würzburg Mozart Festival 2020 will not be able to take place either. At least not in the planned form and in the planned scope with 75 concerts. “Every live concert thrives on the community of musicians and visitors. So, according to what we know now, the season cannot take place as planned,” said a press release issued by the festival this Monday morning.
However: “There will not be anything,” says artistic director Evelyn Meining. “We are working flat out to be able to offer parts of the program in a modified form. In the next few weeks we will publish these offers, which take into account the official requirements and do not only shift music to the digital space.”
With the impending loss of the central Residenz venue, the concept would no longer apply
Different formats are conceivable in the four weeks from May 29, depending on what the rules are. How many dates will come out is still completely open. “We are brave and optimistic,” says Meining, “it is all a dynamic process.”
In the next few weeks, the Mozartfest team wants to develop alternative concert ideas, from live streams with chamber music or solo piano from the empty rooms of the residence in cooperation with the Bavarian Radio to live performances while observing all distance rules and hygiene requirements to mobile concerts with the Music truck “Blauer Eumel”. Meining says: “With this we can go to people outdoors.”
Photo: Daniel Peter
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In the worst case, the residence as the main venue and thus the heart and core of the Mozart Festival should not be available in June. This would eliminate the orchestral concerts in the Kaisersaal and the traditional formats such as night music in the Hofgarten. “Then the Mozart Festival could no longer appear in its essence,” says the director. That is why the Festival 2020 should be completely redesigned and designed – the program, the formats as well as the marketing.
The Mozart Laboratory might even take place
The corona crisis hits the big classical music festival hard, 83.5 percent of all tickets were sold in early March. “We will write to every single customer,” says Evelyn Meining. In addition to the natural reimbursement, buyers should also be offered vouchers or be able to make a donation. Because the corona editions would also and especially freelance musicians in existential needs. “We will also compensate artists who do not get a chance as much as possible,” says the director.
She is optimistic for the MozartLabor: In workshops with few participants and the panel discussions, it is possible to keep distances. Otherwise, they will try to remain as flexible as possible and react continuously to the situation. “We are in constant contact with the artists and ask them how long they can be available. It helps us, of course, that they are not currently tied to anything else,” says Meining.
Hungry for culture after the forced break
The festival boss is also confident when it comes to the audience: she is convinced that people will be starved for culture after the forced break. This is shown by a look at the history of the Mozart Festival: in 1921 and 1951, when concerts finally became possible again after the world wars, people came in droves. Perhaps in June it will again be possible for guests to come into town from abroad, attend one or the other live concert and otherwise enjoy the streaming in the hotel. Meining is convinced that the Würzburg hosts could create an atmospheric setting for this: “The hoteliers are very creative.”
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