“Klassik unter Sternen” 2019 at Göttweig Abbey with Elina Garanca
Juwelier Wagner has been a partner of this open-air concert for many years. Throughout that period, exclusive sparkling Wagner jewellery has been worn on stage by the artistes. In the unique setting of Göttweig Abbey, and on an evening of perfect summer weather, mezzo soprano Elina Garanca thrilled her audience with a romantic programme which was put together by the musical director and conductor Karel Mark Chichon. Elina Garanca’s musical friends for this year’s performance, the American soprano Nadine Sierra and the Ukrainian tenor Dmytro Popov, also touched the hearts of the audience with their singing. There was also lengthy applause for the young Styrian bass baritone and winner of “ZukunftsStimmen” [voices of the future] Alexander Grassauer.
The audience was thrilled by an evening of superlatives when international star Elina Garanca and artistic director Karel Mark Chichon presented their legendary concert “Klassik unter Sternen” at Göttweig Abbey. 4,500 fans were there to hear them. In addition to the American soprano Nadine Sierra, who has received great acclaim from audiences and critics, and the Ukrainian tenor Dmytro Popov, the winner of Elina Garanca’s new-generation singers initiative “ZukunftsStimmen”, Alexander Grassauer, also performed on the stage at Göttweig for the first time.
“Klassik unter Sternen”: A thrilling evening of music in a special setting. Elina Garanca tells us: “I travel throughout the year, performing in different countries and continents – but to be able to appear in this setting, with the Baroque atmosphere of the Abbey, the wide expanse of the Wachau Valley behind me, that is something that really stirs me every time I perform here. And this year I had the additional pleasure of presenting a new voice to the audience, a voice which I believe will make a huge impression in the opera world in future.”
The 23-year-old Alexander Grassauer, who is from Upper Styria and is this year’s winner of Elina Garanca’s initiative “ZukunftsStimmen” https://zukunftsstimmen.at/, really thrilled the audience with his solo performance. Elina Garanca says: “As I stood with my fellow artistes behind the stage, we could really feel the energy that was being created between Alexander and the audience.”
Alexander Grassauer, for whom this was his first appearance on such a large stage, and who is still studying at the Conservatoire in Vienna, says: “Thank God it was only after my performance that I realised what had actually happened there – it was a magical moment, singing for the first time in front of my idol Elina Garanca and then singing with her. It is an indescribable feeling and Göttweig Abbey is an absolutely unique place.”