Allegro Vivo

The Waltviertel forest quarter sings: Over 50 high-quality concerts at 30 of the most beautiful cultural venues in the Waltviertel – a delight for your eyes and ears!

The chamber music festival founded in 1979 by the violinist Bijan Khadern-Missagh from Tehran has been culturally and musically enriching the Waldviertel for over 40 years.  Over 8,500 concert-goers a year not only enjoy visiting the charming countryside of the Waldviertel, they also are also bewitched by the amazing concerts held as part of the festival. The Altenburg Foundation, the Basilika Dreieichen church, the Alte Kapelle in Waldreich Palace, castles such as Greillenstein, Weitra or Rosenburg are only a few of the stunning venues used for concerts as part of the Allegro Vivo festival. Guests to the Waldviertel this year include world-class musicians and ensembles, such as the pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja, violinist Christian Altenburger, viola player Lisa Berthaud, the Armacord Vienna ensemble, the radio.string.quarter and of course, the Allegro Vivo Academy conducted by Vahid Khadem-Missagh, who has been the artistic director of the festival since 2016.  

The Summer Academy: Inviting the world to the Waldviertel

We must mention the camerata led by Yi-Chin Lin: the participants of the master's and young people’s courses at the Summer Academy play a large role in this. Talent is the focus of ‘Allegro Vivo’. That is why the festival is home to the biggest summer academy in Europe: Its aim is to support aspiring young musicians to develop their musical careers in international master classes. Long before the Iron Curtain fell, the ‘Sommerakademie’ developed connected with neighbouring countries through international concerts. Today, of the 550 participants, almost 40% are from 35 countries across the world.  

‘Appassionato’

The festival in 2020 will take place from 7 August to 20 September with the theme ‘Appasionato’. As it is Beethoven’s anniversary, the 250th birthday of the genius of Viennese classical musical will be honoured with passion, kicking off with Roland Batik performing the Kreutzer Sonata Op. 47 at Palmenhaus Gmünd on 7 August. Nicolas Ofczarek and Tamara Metelka will perform ‘Ballads of Passion’ on 30 August in Burg Raabs an der Thaya castle: Schiller, Fontane or Droste-Hülshoff as well as Brahms and Schubert – performed by Jan Jiracek von Arnim on piano, Christian Ostertag on violin and Troels Svane on cello – will be performed. The Klezmer Brothers with their guests Nikolas Lazic on accordion and Szilárd Benes on clarinet will also perform Astor Piazolla, Béla Bartók, Giora Feidman and their own compositions in Schloss Göpfritz