After a highly successful 2024 concert season with high capacity utilization and many additional concerts, the classical concert series "Haydnregion Niederösterreich" presents a program inspired by Joseph and Michael Haydn with 25 events at 12 locations in 10 municipalities around the Haydn birthplace in Rohrau from 9 March to 13 December 2025 under the motto "Grenzenlos klassisch". The concert cycle is characterized by the highest artistic standards and the extraordinary flair of its venues. The latter range from historic castles and sacred buildings to the ancient Roman thermal baths in Carnuntum and the organic wine tavern in Höflein.

 

r. Michael Linsbauer, artistic director © Nikolaus Similache

Dr. Michael Linsbauer © Nikolaus Similache

Dr. Michael Linsbauer, Artistic Director of the concert series, on the program: "Thanks to the great public interest and a convincing occupancy rate of around 98 percent in 2024, we will continue on our artistic and programmatic path next year. We invite you on a journey of discovery into the musical world of Joseph and Michael Haydn. Their musical oeuvre stands for the musical epoch of 'Viennese Classicism', but at the same time fascinates with its timelessness and the possibilities for new interpretations. In the eighth season of the 'Haydnregion Niederösterreich', we want to bring the rich influence of the Haydn brothers on their contemporaries and subsequent music history to life."

Wolfgang Brunner © Niklas Schnaubelt, BZ7

Wolfgang Brunner © Niklas Schnaubelt, BZ7

Program highlights 2025
The first program highlight is the season opening "Il Maestro e lo scolare" at the Haydn Geburtshaus Rohrau on 6 April. This focuses on Joseph Haydn's teachers and pupils: in a lecture and concert, Wolfgang Brunner and the Salzburg Court Music, among others, will examine the influence of Joseph and Michael Haydn on their pupils and contemporaries Marianna Martines, Ignaz Joseph Pleyel, Anton Diabelli and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
"Passio Domini - Passion Music of the Viennese Classical Period", in particular Joseph Haydn's famous "Stabat Mater", will be performed by Gordon Safari and his ensemble BachWerkVokal Salzburg, which specializes in historical performance practice, in the Göttlesbrunn parish church on 13 April.

Adele Neuhauser © Rafaela Pröll

Adele Neuhauser © Rafaela Pröll

Under the title "Die spinnen, die Römer!" (They're crazy, the Romans!), star actress and audience favorite Adele Neuhauser and the Koehne Quartet will present amusing and curious stories from ancient Rome as well as chamber music from three centuries at the Römertherme Carnuntum on 4 May.
From June 6 to 8, Schloss Rohrau will host the "International Haydn Competition for Classical Song and Aria" for the seventh time under the jury chairmanship of Kammersängerin Angelika Kirchschlager. On June 15, the audience can look forward to a magnificent festive concert with symphonies and arias by Joseph Haydn, performed by the renowned Czech Ensemble Baroque and the young star soprano Slávka Zámečníková under the baton of Tomáš Netopil in the Baroque State Hall of Petronell Castle.

Slávka Zámecniková © Peter Frolo

Slávka Zámecniková © Peter Frolo

On June 20, Haydn's oratorio masterpiece "The Seasons" will be performed in the baroque parish church in Bruck with a top-class cast, namely the sought-after original sound ensemble Barucco, the Vienna Singakademie and a top-class ensemble of soloists including soprano Miriam Kutrowatz, tenor Robert Bartneck and baritone Stefan Zenkl, conducted by Heinz Ferlesch.
In "The 'Sensitive' Haydn and the Sorrows of Young Werther" with up-and-coming young pianist Martin Nöbauer on the fortepiano and actor Florian Carove as reciter, the phenomenon of sensitivity, a cultural-historical facet of Joseph Haydn's time, will take center stage at Wolfsthal Castle on 23 August.
The "Concert Gala in the Castle" on September 13 is a tribute to Viennese classical music: with the Salzburg Court Music, Wolfgang Danzmayr as conductor and Wolfgang Brunner as harpsichordist in the baroque ballroom of Petronell Carnuntum Castle.
Haydn and the Movies" on 9 November will provide an exciting program highlight, with the Big Island Orchestra and the American-Israeli soprano Gan-ya Ben-gur Akselrod under conductor Martin Gellner juxtaposing world hits from film music with works of Viennese classical music.
Guests of winemaker and PR lady Dorli Muhr as part of the "Rohrauer Gespräche" 2025 will be Gery Keszler, founder and long-time organizer of the Life Ball, on 9 March; Charly Kleissner, philanthropist, social impact investor and philosopher, on 29 June; and Susanne Bisovsky, internationally renowned fashion designer, on 16 November.
The two family participatory concerts "The Emperor's New Clothes" on April 26 and "The Mountain Fairies - Expedition:Christmas Tree" on December 13, 2025 are suitable for children aged 3 to 10.

Virtuoso performers in 2025
Among the renowned vocal soloists in 2025 are the successful sopranos Slávka Zámečníková, Miriam Kutrowatz and Gan-ya Ben-gur Akselrod, the tenor Robert Bartneck (Vienna Volksoper) and the sought-after baritone Stefan Zenkl. In addition, outstanding young vocal talents such as the soprano Chelsea Marilyn Zurflüh, main prize winner of the 6th International Haydn Singing Competition 2024, Marianna Herzig, Haydn Young Talent Prize winner 2021, and the German baritone Jakob Hoffmann, Haydn main prize winner 2023, will be offered a stage.
Among the important instrumentalists in 2025 are harpsichordist Wolfgang Brunner, salterio virtuoso Heidelore Wallisch-Schauer, multi-award-winning pianist Martin Nöbauer, oboist and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra member Sebastian Breit and clarinettist and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra member Andrea Götsch.

Ensemble Baroque © Photo Tino 2021

Ensemble Baroque © Photo Tino 2021

Also performing will be renowned instrumental ensembles such as the Salzburger Hofmusik under Wolfgang Danzmayr and Wolfgang Brunner, Gordon Safari's BachWerkVokal Salzburg, the Koehne Quartet, the Czech Ensemble Baroque under conductor Tomáš Netopil, the Originalklangensemble Barucco under Heinz Ferlesch, the Divinerinnen, the Minetti Quartet, the Beethoven Philharmonic Orchestra under Thomas Rösner, the Trio VanBeethoven, the Oberton String Octet under Jevgēnijs Čepoveckis, the Big Island Orchestra under conductor Martin Gellner, the Tiroler Familienmusik Waldauf and the Wiener Kammersymphonie.
Audience favorites known from theater, film and television such as Adele Neuhauser, Florian Carove, Chris Pichler and Elisabeth "Lizzi" Engstler as well as classical music expert and Ö1 creator Ulla Pilz congenially complement the music program with appropriate recitations, anecdotes, stories and lectures.
March 9 to December 13, 2025
www.haydnregion-noe.at