176 CultureShock! Austria
More on Linz
Linz is also the site of the Klangwolke Festival, a mixture of art
and technology, and the Pflasterspektakel, a street artists’ festival
in the pedestrian zone.Lower Austria
Franz Schubert spent the summers from 1820 to 1828 in
the town of Atzenbrugg (halfway between Tulln and Saint
Pölten). So every May and June, the town celebrates the
Schubertiade Music Festival.
Grafenegg Castle near Krems presents concerts from
May through October. Every other year, it hosts Romantic
Music Week. Christmas season brings ‘Grafenegg Advent’ in
early December. In the summer, you can see operetta at the
Open-air Theatre in Baden, and plays at Perchtoldsdorf and
Neulengbach. Saint Pölten and Krems are the main venues
for the Danube Festival. The town of Melk, best known for its
majestic abbey, is home to the Summer Theatre Festival.Burgenland
Burgenland honours Haydn, the chief conductor of the
Esterházy dynasty’s private orchestra from 1761 until 1790.
The Haydnsaal at the Esterházy palace in Eisenstadt offers
concerts and matinee chamber music from September
until July. It’s definitely worth a visit, especially since Haydn
himself conducted many of his own works there. A highlight
of the musical season is Haydn Days, a festival that features
his works as well as those of other composers.
The Mörbisch Lake Festival is held outdoors in the small
town of Mörbisch on the large Neusiedler Lake. Operettas are
performed here in the summer warmth. Nearby, the Opera
Festival Saint Margarethen is held in July and August in the
town of the same name, in a quarry with the stage set deep
between the rocks. Lockenhaus Castle, near the Hungarian
border, hosts a chamber music festival every summer.Bregenz
Bregenz, the capital of Vorarlberg, is world-famous for its