Friedrich Cerha was born in Vienna on 17 February 1926. On the occasion of his 100th birthday, three years after his death, the composer is being celebrated and honoured in a variety of ways.
Concert highlights include evenings in February in Vienna and Bratislava: on 17 February, exactly on his 100th birthday, chamber music works will be performed at the Vienna Konzerthaus by the Boulanger Trio and members of Klangforum Wien. With Omar Khayyam's Ten Rubaiyat, the Company of Music is also contributing a choral piece that illustrates Cerha's early interest in Oriental culture.
Also at the Vienna Konzerthaus, the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Ingo Metzmacher will perform Friedrich Cerha's Monumentum für Karl Prantl (1988–1989) on 21 February and will also interpret Alban Berg's Lulu Suite. Friedrich Cerha completed Berg's unfinished opera so that it could be premiered in its entirety in 1979 under Pierre Boulez; Berg's Lulu Suite provided him with important clues for the instrumentation.
On 19 February, the duo Demetrius & Janna Polyzoides will perform works for violin and piano by Friedrich Cerha at the Primatial Palace in Bratislava.
On 27 February, Friedrich Cerha's Three Movements for Orchestra will be performed at the Musikverein in Vienna by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop.
The Institute for Musicology and Interpretation Research (IMI) in cooperation with the Archive of Contemporaries Krems at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna is organising a symposium from 18 to 20 March on Friedrich Cerha's artistic positions in the context of his time. Performances of his works will round off the academic programme.
The world premiere of a work by Friedrich Cerha at the end of September is particularly exciting: the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra under Anna Rakitina will perform the Vorspiel zu einer Komödie (Preelude to a Comedy) for the first time.
An extensive publication by the Spanish National Orchestra is already available at this link. The book Carta Blanca a Friedrich Cerha honours the composer with a variety of contributions from musicologists, fellow composers and other people from his circle and is being published by the orchestra in memory of Friedrich Cerha's residency with the orchestra. Two further book publications are in the pipeline – we will provide more details here soon.
On 17 February, Austrian Post will issue a special stamp to mark the 100th birthday of Friedrich Cerha. The stamp, designed by master engraver Kirsten Lubach, will be issued in a print run of 210,000 copies with a face value of €3.10.
