Programme & Tickets

The fact that there is much more that unites than divides nations, genres, traditions and even eras in music may sound generalized, worn out and banal. Even confusing. Because if everything is connected to everything else, where is the orientation? The Viennese formation The Erlkings is a perfect example of a case of seemingly inextricable connections. But her way of playing the song genre works amazingly directly, because it sounds strange and yet familiar. And not a bit banal.

The frontman of the Erlkings, singer-songwriter Bryan Benner, describes himself as an “American-born troubadour” and is a self-proclaimed Viennese—much like Brahms, a native of Hamburg, who is the headliner of this edition of the Liedfestival. Benner, the “troubadour,” responds in his own way to the seriousness with which classical music is approached in Vienna: “I was drawn to playing with that—to creating a space where humor and lightheartedness can emerge.”

Instead of piano, the Erlkings perform with guitar, cello, tuba and percussion, and sing in English. In Heidelberg, they investigate what folk songs in the classical and romantic periods are all about, arranging and interpreting them in their own way.

Concert with intermission