He was a composer, teacher, conductor and co-founder of the ensemble die reihe. As such and in many other facets of his work, Friedrich Cerha was - and still is - one of the defining figures of Austrian cultural life throughout the entire duration of the Second Republic: on his 100th birthday, the Wiener Konzerthaus pays tribute to him with a concert whose program demonstrates not least how actively the composer, who died in 2023 just a few days before reaching the age of 97, was able to pursue his profession into old age. The evening´s chamber music works, performed by high calibre ensembles, largely represent his rich late work, in which Cerha often returned to the roots of musical modernism. With the Ten Rubaijat of Omar Chajjam, the Company of Music contributes a choral piece that illustrates Cerha's early interest in the culture of the Orient.
Photo: Manu Theobald