There was a time in the life of the legendary Viennese virtuoso Fritz Kreisler when he seriously considered stopping his musical career and doing something completely different. On his first concert trip to the United States as a twenty-four-year-old, he achieved only moderate success, and after returning to Vienna he put down his violin, began medical studies, and joined the army for a while. But after having performed as a soloist with the Berliner Philharmoniker under the direction of Arthur Nikisch, he embarked on a second American tour that ended with great success. Thus, Kreisler did not become a doctor or a professional military man (although he spent several weeks in the trenches of World War I), but a true ambassador of the musical Vienna.

The violinist Benjamin Schmid will reference the legend of Fritz Kreisler in his programme. He is also a born Viennese, a lecturer at the Salzburg Mozarteum, a close associate of the Wiener Philharmoniker. He has performed with the orchestra in Viennese Musikverein and Schönbrunn Palace. He will be accompanied at the piano by Andrea Linsbauer, a pianist famous for her interpretations of Fritz Kreisler’s music. She participated in the celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of Kreisler’s death in 2022, took part in the recording of his less frequently performed works and wrote a book on his music.

The duo will present a number of compositions and arrangements by the famous Viennese virtuoso – Kreisler was not only a performing artist, but also an efficient composer of salon music. The musicians will juxtapose Kreisler’s works with Fantasia op. 47 by Arnold Schoenberg. It is a dodecaphonic work, but there is also a clear Viennese, classical feature in it. Where? For example, in fragments maintained in an odd metre, whose peculiar dance character refers to the works for string instruments by Schubert and Mahler. There is nothing weird in this – Arnold Schönberg never considered himself a revolutionary breaking with the musical past, but a logical continuator of the European, in particular Austrian, musical tradition.