Petritsch / Piccinini / Lenaerts - Thomas Mann: Buddenbrooks

Performers:

Barbara Petritsch, reading
Marina Piccinini, flute
Anneleen Lenaerts, harp

The Buddenbrooks
Castle actress Barbara Petritsch kicks off a series of serialised readings dedicated to Thomas Mann's »Buddenbrooks«. The social novel is considered a key work of the 20th century. It tells the story of the decline of a wealthy Lübeck merchant family.

Continuation readings with musical dramaturgy
As the »Musik und Dichtung zu Mittag« and »Musik und Dichtung am Abend« cycles progress, readers such as Michael Maertens, Katharina Lorenz and Felix Kammerer slip into the roles of the family members in the various generations. There is a musical thread running from the first to the last event: from classical to modern, the accompanying music makes the gradual decline of the Buddenbrook family comprehensible.

Thomas Mann Year 2025
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Mann, one of the most important German writers of the last century. As part of the »Buddenbrooks« series, the Wiener Konzerthaus is commemorating this famous chronicler of bourgeois heroes.

Thomas Mann & music
Music played a central role in Thomas Mann's life and work. For him, music was more than just a motif: it became a literary principle that characterised the structure, mood and depth of his work. According to Mann himself, the »Ring of the Nibelung« served as a model for the downfall of the Buddenbrook family.

Johann Sebastian Bach to Richard Strauss
Flutist Marina Piccinini and harpist Anneleen Lenaerts lend a special musical depth to this opening reading with works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Clara Schumann and Richard Strauss.

program

Thomas Mann
Buddenbrooks »In den ersten Kreisen«
Johann Sebastian Bach
Sonate g-moll BWV 1020 für Violine und Cembalo (Bearbeitung für Flöte und Harfe: Marina Piccinini) (?)

sowie Werke von Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Clara Schumann und Richard Strauss

Place

The Konzerthaus in Vienna (German: Wiener Konzerthaus) was opened 1913. It is situated in the third district just at the edge of the first district in Vienna. Since it was founded it has always tried to emphasise both tradition and innovative musical styles.

In 1890, the first ideas for a Haus für Musikfeste (House for music festivals) came about. The idea of the new multi-purpose building was to be more interesting to the broader public than the traditional Vienna Musikverein. In addition to the concert hall, the first drawings by Ludwig Baumann for the Olympion included an ice-skating area and a bicycle club. In an attached open air area, 40,000 visitors would be able to attend events. The drawings were not accepted. However, today an ice skating area is situated right next to the building.

The Konzerthaus was finally built between 1911 and 1913. The architects were Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer; the work was done in cooperation with Ludwig Baumann.