Festival Imago Dei

Imago Dei 2026 is inspired by the power of poetry. You can sense it in the tango lyrics of the Argentine duo Piano Canción, and it shines through in the Good Friday programme of the Corsican ensemble A Filetta. Gripping epitaphs from medieval Bosnia resonate in the “Heretical Angels” programme. An essay on the melancholy of Renaissance England accompanies John Dowland’s “Lachrimae,” woven into the enchanting sound of the Element of Prime recorder quintet. The ensemble will also perform at our children’s concert. A captivating solo programme by koto player Karin Nakagawa is interspersed with wise sayings from 13th-century Japan. Ingeborg Bachmann, whose 100th birthday is commemorated in 2026, is featured on has a say on several occasions throughout the festival. The world premiere of “Frühling. Leeres Land,” a musical scenario with an extraordinary cast, is based on one of her stories. Bachmann’s text “Ein Blatt für Mozart” will be read in the context of his “Gran Partita,” the full-length serenade to conclude the festival.

On this evening, the film “Amadeus” sets the stage for a live performance of Mozart, played by the L’Orfeo wind ensemble with 13 instruments. In contrast, acclaimed singer-songwriter Chris Thile only needs a mandolin and his voice to unfold incomparable lyrics and sounds. Actors Dörte Lyssewski, Markus Meyer, and students from the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, along with the diplomat Valentin Inzko and musician Ernst Molden, will be our guests for readings and concert introductions. For the opening, the Klangraum doubles as a “light room”: the trio Brot & Sterne are accompanied by Lillevan’s luminous video art as a fourth instrument at the world premiere of “apsu.” On this first evening of Imago Dei, you will also hear another leading, poetic voice in Austria: Julian Schutting has written a new text for Imago Dei on the themes of water and transience. Ingeborg Bachmann asks: “What is this sound that makes you yearn for home? […] But what is this music that makes you so friendly and strong every day?”

Come and discover one or the other answers!

WELCOME! ALBERT HOSP ON BEHALF OF THE FESTIVAL TEAM