The Rheingau Music Festival 2025 continues its classical music focus but intersperses elements of pop, electronic and world music to elevate the senses.
A double bass almost four meters tall in the orchestra; a Lithuanian accordionist who likes to play at lofty heights; a South African cellist who makes the audience sing: TheRheingau Music Festivalpresents special people in special places and has become one of the largest festivals in Europe, hostingclassicalbut also jazz, pop and world music.
"The spaces are an integral part of us," said festival managing director Marsilius von Ingelheim of the setting. "We bring unique concert experiences to historical and modern locations in the region."
The wine-growing Rheingau region in the central German state of Hessen features historic landmarks such as the medieval Eberbach Monastery, where the festival opens every summer — also the location for the 1986 film adaptation of Umberto Eco's novel, "The Name of the Rose."
Meanwhile, the Eberbach Basilica, with its thick monastery walls, is made for large orchestras and powerful voices.
"St. Cecilia Mass," by 19th-century French composer Charles Gounod, opened the festival in the venue and was peformed by the MDR Radio Choir and the Hessischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra.
"The church has a long reverberation, which is not easy for the orchestra, but appropriate for Gounod's church work," the orchestra's director Alain Altinoglu said, adding that it was a particular challenge for violins.
Armenian violinist Diana Adamyan kicked off the concert with Spanish music, including pieces by Pablo de Sarasate and film composer Franz Waxman.
Adamyan quickly got used to the reverberation.
"I had the feeling that the walls were absorbing themusic," she told DW. "It was as if the whole basilica was vibrating and dancing with us. It was a wonderful feeling."
Adamyan thrilled the audience with her delicate virtuoso tones in the highest registers. The country of Spain, and dance in music, are two of the main themes of this year's festival.
A huge contrabass protruded from the orchestra during the "St. Cecilia Mass" performance. The French violin maker Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume constructed the so-called "octobass" in the mid-19th century for the composer Hector Berlioz.
The octobass has only three sides and, at over three-and-a-half meters, is the largest double bass in the world — and has a deep, penetrating sound to match. Only a few replicas remain, with one borrowed especially for the evening.
At this year's festival, there will be musical evenings among the grape vines, in the surrounding castles, in an old barn, and for the first time in the new Reinhard Ernst Museum.
Lithuanian musician Martynas Levickis will be playing his accordion between abstract paintings. He also loves unusual places and sounds.
"I've wanted to do something with electronic music producers for a long time," he said. "It will be night music with a clubbing atmosphere and lots of improvisation."
For program director Timo Buckow, Levickis is an artist with vision: "For the concert in the museum, he came to Wiesbaden four times to take in the space. He then looked at the exhibits for inspiration and thought about the musical concept."
Levickis is known for unusual performances, including taking to the skies with his instrument in a hot air balloon.
As one of the festival's focus artists, the Lithuanian will perform several times in the Rheingau. His "Da Vinci's Dream" show includes music from 400 years of accordion history.
He has obtained an instrument from the Netherlands especially for the beginnings of accordion music: the so-called organetto, with bellows and small organ pipes, was built according to sketches by the painter and inventor Leonardo da Vinci.
Another artist with vision is the cellist Abel Selaocoe from South Africa. His "African roots" performance with the Stuttgart Symphony Orchestra saw him sing over classical and modern music.
Sometimes Selaocoe stomps on the floor, as in the traditional dances of hishomeland, sometimes he encourages the audience to sing along.
"He doesn't think in terms of genres, he himself is the music," said Buckow. "This is something new, it's not something we've seen before in our industry."
Such performances are an experiment at the Rheingau Music Festival, explained the program director. "We have to show these artists and also this diversity; that is our responsibility and ultimately what makes the festival what it is."
This article was originally written in German.
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