From September 3 to October 11, 2025, the International Bruckner Festival Linz invites you to 32 concerts with top-class international guests. Under the motto "Open your eyes, music! See sounds - hear images", the festival will traverse the history of music from Johann Sebastian Bach and Anton Bruckner to the present day. The festival offers a multifaceted program with world premieres, jazz pieces, film music, a television opera and audio films.
Music meets image - a new festival experience
At the heart of this year's Brucknerfest is the combination of sound and image. Modernism is considered the "visual age", as historian Gerhard Paul describes it. The festival takes up this idea and places it in the context of Anton Bruckner, whose music has often been regarded as absolute and free of extra-musical associations. Yet it was precisely the pictorial, haptic elements of his works that had a formative influence on subsequent generations of composers. The Brucknerfest 2025 dares to break new ground and sets exciting accents:
Hitchcock and Hollywood
For the first time, the festival will be a magnet for film music lovers. The Israeli pianist and composer Matan Porat will improvise the accompaniment to Buster Keaton's silent film classic The General. Bernard Herrmann's impressive film music for Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo and his Concerto macabre from Hangover Square will be presented by the Bruckner Orchestra Linz under the direction of Markus Poschner. In addition, unforgettable classics from West Side Story, Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod, Schindler's List, E.T., Jaws, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park and Star Wars will be performed.
Daniele Gatti © Brand photography
Strong collaborations
In collaboration with the Ars Electronica Festival 2025, Viktor Ullmann's opera Der Kaiser von Atlantis will be performed at Postcity in Linz. The "Great Concert Night" sets further artistic highlights. The ORF television studio becomes the stage for Benjamin Britten's rarely performed television opera Owen Wingrave.
The Moviemento cinema screens Luchino Visconti's film Death in Venice, whose emotional impact is significantly influenced by the Adagietto from Gustav Mahler's 5th Symphony. The day before, Daniele Gatti and the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden present this very symphony in its entirety at the Brucknerhaus.
Hidden Festival Venues
The "Hidden Festival Venues" promise a special experience: Eight concerts will take place at as yet undisclosed venues. This concept aims to open up new creative spaces and create unexpected sound experiences in Linz. The International Bruckner Festival Linz 2025 combines musical tradition with innovative ideas and invites you to experience music with all your senses.
September 3 to October 11, 2025
