Moritzburg Festival for Chamber Music with record attendance

The renowned Moritzburg Festival for Chamber Music has set a new attendance record with around 7,300 visitors at its 33rd edition. The 20 concerts were 97 percent full, the organizers announced at the finale at the weekend. The weather also played along: All of the performances planned in the open air were able to take place.

The finale was once again "full steam ahead". The Moritzburg Festival Academy with 36 musicians from 20 countries formed an orchestra and gave a concert in the Dresden Kulturpalast, which was entitled "Landpartie". Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's "Hebrides" Overture, Antonio Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" and Ludwig van Beethoven's 6th Symphony are all about pure nature.

Four violinists take turns in Vivaldi's "Seasons"

The audience celebrated the young musicians under the direction of Spaniard Josep Caballé Domenech like pop stars at the end for a mature performance. The solo parts were played by four violinists from this year's Moritzburg line-up. Hina Khuong-Huu interpreted the "Spring", Karen Gomyo the "Summer", Fiona Khuong-Huu the "Autumn" and Academy director Mira Wang the "Winter". There was much applause for all of them.

On Sunday, the festival hosted the final concert in the Evangelical Church in Moritzburg. Compositions by Max Bruch, Antonín Dvořák and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy were performed in a variety of ensembles.

Festival invited guests on a musical journey through Europe

This year's theme was a journey through 19th century Europe. The concerts were titled with city names - including Prague, Vienna, Paris, Rome and St. Petersburg - and featured compositions by masters from the respective countries.

"We are delighted with the strong increase in visitors this year and this confirms our work, so my thanks go first and foremost to our enthusiastic audience," explained Jan Vogler, Artistic Director of the festival, who performed several times as a cellist himself.

Marlboro Festival in the USA was the inspiration for Moritzburg

Jan Vogler founded the Moritzburg Festival for Chamber Music in 1993 with his brother Kai and his cello colleague Peter Bruns. The idyllic location just outside Dresden soon became a magnet for chamber musicians from all over the world. The founders were inspired by the Marlboro Festival in the USA. The participants there also present the results of their work in concerts after a rehearsal phase.