Strauss and Molden open Wachau in Echtzeit festival

ORF reports that festival director Ursula Strauss will launch Wachau in Echtzeit on Saturday with musician Ernst Molden, presenting their new album, “nochdvegl”. The festival brings concerts, theatre and readings to small and distinctive venues across the region.

The opening concert will take place in the knights’ hall at Aggstein Castle ruins in the district of Melk. The festival describes it as an evening of “beautiful, sad and funny moments”. Strauss says sadness is a prerequisite for good humour, and that the best humour comes from failure.

On October 31, actor and puppeteer Kajetan Dick will lead a nature-focused cultural and storytelling walk titled “Of cannibals, black ravens and dark forests”. The walk will feature eerie stories, texts and fairy tales connected with Samhain, described as the original Halloween. A literary evening with Birgit Linauer will explore the art and power of enjoyment.

On November 7, Sona MacDonald and Roland Koch will follow the lives of writer Ernest Hemingway, his wife Martha Gellhorn and his pen-pal lover Marlene Dietrich in a performance titled “Hemingway’s love hells”. Philipp Jagschitz will accompany them on piano at the Klangraum Krems Minorite Church venue. The Nestroy Prize 2025-nominated play “I am Ruth: The short life of Ruth Maier”, featuring Claudia Kottal, Anna Kramer and Suse Lichtenberger, is scheduled for November 10 at the Tischlerei Melk cultural workshop.

Johannes Silberschneider will perform “Hollywood and back” at Spitz Castle on November 12. Oliver Welter and Clara Frühstück will present a new interpretation of Schubert’s “Winterreise” on November 14. On November 19, actor Katharina Stemberger and the band Die Strottern will perform together, with Stemberger reading stories by Zagreb-born Anna Baar.

Jakob Semotan will perform a Tom Waits concert in Viennese dialect in Melk on November 21. Musical church tours at the branch church of St. Lorenz are scheduled for the following day. The festival will close on November 28 at Luberegg Castle with “Schlamassel”, a reading performance by Adele Neuhauser and Christian Dolezal.