100 years Friedrich Cerha

In 2026, the music world will celebrate the 100th birthday of Friedrich Cerha and honor the composer, who died in 2023, with publications, concerts, and a world premiere. Cerha was one of the most important protagonists of contemporary music in Austria. 
He has helped shape the musical life of the Vienna Philharmonic in the areas of music theater and concerts since 1981. 

His first collaboration with the orchestra at the world premiere of his opera Baal in Salzburg in 1981 remains unforgettable. Baal was a triumph for the composer thanks to the musical energy and profundity of the libretto. A few years later, we performed his Baal Gesänge with Thomas Hampson as soloist, who also sang the lead role in the world premiere of Der Riese vom Steinfeld at the Vienna State Opera in 2002.

In the concert field, we commissioned the composition Impulse (1992/93) for large orchestra. This was premiered in 1996 in a subscription concert conducted by André Previn and conducted by Pierre Boulez at the Salzburg Festival in the same year. In 2008, five pieces from the work Wiener Kaleidoskop were premiered at the Vienna Konzerthaus under HK Gruber. 

In 2011, Peter Eötvös conducted Cerha's Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra, and in 2013 we went on a European tour together under the baton of Lorin Maazel.

We are grateful to have been able to perform some of Friedrich Cerha's work, which occupies a lasting and unique place in music history thanks to its versatility, thematic precision, and nonconformity.