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Cleveland Orchestra Delivers Inspired Performance of Bruckner at Historic St. Florian Abbey near Linz, Austria
Musicians Say Playing at St. Florian Puts What Music Director Has Taught Them Into Context
by WKSU's VIVIAN GOODMAN


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Vivian Goodman
 
To understand the music of Anton Bruckner requires knowledge of his personality, one of the most complex among classical composers, but it also helps to be in the place where he lived, worked, and received his inspiration. The Cleveland Orchestra has achieved just that at the St. Florian Abbey where it performed last night. WKSU's Vivian Goodman takes us there:
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Taxi driver and literary and 
cultural maven Marius Huszar embraces silhouettes of Brahms and Bruckner on the St. Florian monastery grounds.
Cleveland Orchestra musicians stop for lunch in the courtyard of the St. Florian abbey after their acoustic rehearsal for performances of Bruckner's Fifth Symphony.From left to right: Joshua Smith, flute;  Chris Dudley, trombone; Julia Athayde, violin; Charles Carleton, bass; Charles Bernard, cello.
Michael Miller, appointed fourth trumpet of the Cleveland Orchestra at the start of the 2006 Blossom season was a substitute on last year's European tour but is now thrilled to be officially on board and playing Bruckner. As he put it,"Every brass player loves Bruckner."
The St. Florian Abbey concerts as well as the concert at the Brucknerhaus in Linz were sold out a year in advance. Tickets at St. Florian were 50 euros with no student discounts. Tickets at the Brucknerhaus were from 45 to 110 euros and 10 euros for children.
The first documented Cathedral of St. Florian dates from the 11th century but archaeologists have revealed that a church stood there since late Roman times.
Below the church of St. Florian a crypt contains the tomb of Queen Catherine of Poland, but its main significance is the sarcophagus of the composer Anton Bruckner who was buried there in 1896. It was his dying wish to be laid to rest directly below his beloved organ.
Before the concerts at the St. Florian Abbey, patrons relax in the courtyard cafe. Among those in attendance are Franz Welser-Most's parents, who live in nearby Linz, and Alexander Perreira, Welser-Most's boss at the Zurich Opera.
Franz Welser-Most stood in silence for many minutes in front of Bruckner's sarcophagus. In the background are thousands of bones and skulls found during excavations of the St. Florian grounds, probably part of a necropolis of the 4th century AD.
Cleveland Orchestra Delivers Inspired Performance of Bruckner at Historic St. Florian Abbey near Linz
 
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