It’s like wings unfurling. Spread out, stand out. On the delicate tones of the strings, which weave their way through the gigantic, high-ceilinged concert hall like a filigree net, and through whose gaps the lute of the clarinet floats. Light as a feather, sometimes singing and joking, sometimes whispering plaintively, sometimes dancing and sighing. The music festival in Blumenthal Castle is more than just a few top-class concerts by international musicians. It’s a revelation for the senses. That becomes clear at the opening concert on Thursday evening.
Sunset in paradise. Blumenthal can hardly be better described as anything else, it is so peaceful here. A few guests are still feasting in the beer garden, and children are happily frolicking in the meadows. In the future cheese dairy, the interior is sawed and glued a little – watched curiously by the concertgoers, who then climb up the iron fire escape of the outbuilding in their evening or leisure wear.
At the opening concert, more than half of the 500 seats remain empty
The view into the “concert hall” is as surprising as it is overwhelming. The empty attic with its steel beams seems endless, red spotlights accompany the way towards the stage. Around 500 white garden chairs are waiting to be occupied. Alone, this evening more than half will remain empty. Angelika Schindel, who manages the project medially, sighs. “It’s vacation time, maybe some don’t dare yet,” she tries to explain – and hopes for the next concert days.
In any case, it can’t have been due to a lack of advertising. And certainly not the artists themselves. Because both the award-winning Mandelring Quartet with Sebastian Schmidt (violin), Nanette Schmidt (violin), Andreas Willwohl (viola) and Bernhard Schmidt (violoncello) and the organizer and founder of the Blumenthal Music Festival, the Clarinet player Georg Arzberger, play in the top league of the international classical music world. To be so close and then to listen to them in this extraordinary place: an experience that can hardly be topped.
The acoustics in Blumenthal Castle are sensational
Especially since the acoustics are sensational in this primitive “location”. It doesn’t matter whether you’re sitting at the front or at the back: All sounds reach your ears, to the point, without reverberation, clearly and precisely. The clarinet quintet in A major (KV 581) by Wolfgang A. Mozart was fantastic, while the clarinet quintet in B minor (op. 115) by Johannes Brahms was moving. And to top it all off, the encore, the evening song by Robert Schumann. Another plus is that there are no printed programs for ecological and economic reasons. Because the concentration is entirely on the music, you can create your own images in front of your eyes and set off on your own emotions on the journey.
The listeners are so intoxicated by the music and the sounds of the virtuosos that even in the short pauses in the movement there is no clearing of the throat, no coughing, no rustling to be heard. Thunderous applause, all eyes beaming. As you exit, the offered hat fills with bills. The music festival is more than just a series of concerts. It is also about supporting the association, which has set itself the task of offering top-class concerts for everyone. At moderate prices, without a dress code, “open, tolerant and diverse”. And sponsoring members are being sought to help carry the spirit forward and put the idea on a secure footing. From 2023 there will even be a special offer for teenagers and young adults, according to the signs hanging from the ceiling.
After the classic-jazz concert on Friday evening, children and adults can let themselves be intoxicated by the wonderful ambience and virtuoso music in Blumenthal Castle for two more days. For children, Ingrid Hausl and the musicians of the Camerata Vitilo will play the children’s concert “The Wind and the 13 Siblings” this Saturday, September 3, at 10.30 a.m. In the evening there will be an extraordinary chamber concert with the Mandelring Quartet at 7.30 p.m. On Sunday, September 4th, from 3 p.m., visitors can go on a journey at the open-air traveling concert with the musicians of the Camerata Vitilo festival orchestra. The crowning final concert is with them at 7.30 p.m. and Mozart’s “Gran Partita” from Serenade No. 10.