Ludwig van Beethoven Music Festival in Zittau

With two magnificent, large-scale, and challenging concerts, the University Choir of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences and the International University Institute in Zittau will take its summer break at the end of the semester. The programs are devoted exclusively to works by Ludwig van Beethoven and will be performed by an outstanding ensemble under the direction of KMD Prof. Dr. Neithard Bethke.

The first concert will take place on Saturday, June 25, at 5:00 p.m. at St. Anthony’s Cathedral in Liberec,Czech Republic; the second will take place one day later, on Sunday, June 26, at 6:00 p.m. at St. Marien Church in Zittau. Admission to both concerts—which are sponsored by, among others, the Sparkasse Oberlausitz/Niederschlesien Foundation, the City of Zittau, the Zittau Graphic Workshops, the Dresden Student Services, and the Neisse-Nisa-Nysa Euroregion, admission is free; however, a reasonable donation at the end of the concert is requested to cover the high costs.

The program features three well-known works by Ludwig van Beethoven: Both concerts will open with the famous Violin Concerto in D major for solo violin and orchestra, Op. 61. This will be followed by the six so-called Gellert Songs, Op. 48, which are otherwise almost never heard either in concert halls or in churches. They are performed here in an arrangement for solo soprano and orchestra by Neithard Bethke, his Opus 74. The concerts conclude with the Mass in C major, Op. 86, for soloists, choir, organ, and orchestra.

Building on the tremendous success of last year’s Mozart Requiem concerts, outstanding performers have once again been secured for this event: The violin concerto will be performed by Roland Knauth, first concertmaster of the German Bach Orchestra from Dresden, who already gave an unsurpassed performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Violin Concerto in E major here in Zittau at the beginning of last year. The Berlin soprano Christina Roterberg, who has already demonstrated her captivating artistry during the performance of the Mozart Requiem in Zittau, has been entrusted with the deeply moving, religious Gellert Songs.

The other vocal soloists in the Mass are equally accomplished: the alto part will be sung in Liberec by Vaclava Krejci Houskova, the star contralto of the National Opera in Prague, and in Zittau by the seasoned Uta Runne from Berlin. The tenor part is sung by Volker Arndt from Berlin, and the bass part by Pavel Kobrle from Prague.

In addition to the Zittau/Görlitz University Choir, the Czech choir A my taky from Liberec (conducted by Neithard Bethke) and the Polish chamber choir Collegium Musicum Olsztyn (conducted by Janusz Wilinski).

The German Bach Orchestra, a trusted long-standing instrumental partner of the University Choir, will once again perform the extensive orchestral part for these two concerts. Neithard Bethke is responsible for rehearsing all sections and for overall direction.

Since there are no numbered printed seat tickets—only detailed programs available at the entrance with all necessary information in three languages—the organizer recommends that interested audience members arrive well in advance to secure good seats.

The concerts are sponsored by the City of Zittau, the Foundation of the Sparkasse Oberlausitz-Niederschlesien, the Zittau/Görlitz University, and the Dresden Student Services. The concerts are sponsored by the City of Zittau, the Sparkasse Oberlausitz-Niederschlesien Foundation, the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, and the “Studentenwerk Dresden.” We would like to thank the Graphische Werkstätten Zittau for their wonderful support! We would also like to thank the “Graphische Werkstätten Zittau” printing house for their wonderful support!

Rehearsals are funded by the European Union and the Regional Development Fund “Joint Small Projects Fund of the Neisse-Nisa-Nysa Euroregion.” Rehearsals and choir activities are supported by funds from the European Union and the Regional Development Fund (“Joint Fund for Small Projects in the Neisse-Nisa-Nysa Euroregion”).