Ganz zu Recht gab es grossen Applaus für das Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein, den Dirigenten Dawid Runtz und den Pianisten Dmytro Choni beim rezenten Abonnementkonzert in Schaan. Die jugendliche Frische gepaart mit grossen Namen der Romantik und Spätromantik liess den Konzertabend zu einem echten musikalischen Erlebnis werden. Keine Starallüren, keine Affektiertheit, sondern einfach nur Liebe und Hingabe zur Musik gaben den drei Werken auf dem Programm (Konzertouvertüre von Karol Szymanowski, das Klavierkonzert von Josef Gabriel Rheinberger sowie Gustav Mahlers erste Symphonie) klare Konturen und künstlerische Tiefe.

Der geradezu stürmische Beginn von Szymanowskis Konzertouvertüre hegte Erwartungen, die im weiteren Verlauf des Abends nicht enttäuscht wurden.

Dawid Runtz animierte das Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein zu einer schwungvollen, vitalen und stimmungsvollen Interpretation, angereichert mit einer breiten Palette an wundervollen Klangfarben.

Dass die kommunikative Art des jungen polnischen Dirigenten nicht nur im Zusammenspiel mit dem Orchester blendend funktionierte, zeigte sich im anschliessenden Klavierkonzert von Josef Gabriel Rheinberger mit Dmytro Choni als Solist.  

Rheinberger, der gebürtige Liechtensteiner, ist vor allem wegen seiner Sakralmusik bekannt. Sein symphonisches Oeuvre wird selten aufgeführt, und sowohl für Dawid Runtz als auch für Dmytro Choni war es die erste Begegnung mit Rheinbergs Klavierkonzert. Beide Musiker haben die hochromantische Musik des Vaduzers stante pede verinnerlicht und so erlebten wir eine ebenso hoch emotionale wie feinfühlige Lektüre dieses schönen Werkes. Dmytro Choni ist kein Mann des Spektakels, kein virtuoser Schausteller obwohl gerade Rheinberger den Solisten technisch immer wieder herausfordert. Der junge ukrainische Pianist - Stipendiat der Musikakademie Liechtenstein - suchte immer wieder den Dialog mit dem Orchester. Derart entspann sich über die drei Sätze ein intensives Gespräch, das den Zuhörer nie aussen vorliess. Rheinberger überschreibt den langsamen Satz mit Adagio patetico. Nichts an dieser Interpretation war jedoch pathetisch, schwerfällig - eher intensiv, innig und stellenweise nachdenklich. Die Musik floss aus sich heraus, und sämtliche Interpreten waren an diesem Abend die besten Anwälte von Rheinbergers Klavierkonzert.

Viel Herzblut investierte Dmytro Choni auch in seine Zugabe - L’isle joyeuse von Claude Debussy. 

Das lässt sich auch über Dawid Runtz und das Sinfonieorchester Liechtenstein bei Mahlers erster Symphonie sagen. Trotz der vielen Vorgaben, die der Komponist in seiner Partitur macht, liess sich der Dirigent in kein Korsett stecken. Dawid Runtz’ roter Faden blieb stets der Beginn der Symphonie: wie ein Naturlaut. Selten haben wir diese Titan-Symphonie so wenig titanesk, dafür umso erfrischender erlebt. Melancholische Heiterkeit erklang in jeder Phrase, mehr denn die existenziellen Fragen, die sich etwa in den Symphonien Nr 2 und 3 stellen.

Der 31jährige Dirigent geht den Dingen dennoch auf den Grund, bleibt nie oberflächlich. Er lotete die Symphonie wunderbar kammermusikalisch aus, deckte die Vielschichtigkeit der Partitur auf, ohne dass die Musik je an Innenspannung verlor.

So boten die Mitglieder des Sinfonieorchesters Liechtenstein und ihr Gastdirigent nicht nur musikalisch einen aussergewöhnlichen Abend sondern auch humanitär - durch eine vom Orchester initiierte Spendenaktion zugunsten kriegsversehrter ukrainischer Musiker. 

Guy Engels

On May 20th, the prestigious Zagreb concert cycle "Lisinski subotom" (Saturday at Lisinski) featured the Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra. Although I wasn't there, I am writing about the concert program that was performed three days earlier in the Liechtenstein town of Schaan. I wasn't there either because I am far away from the small and wealthy Principality, even further than from Croatia's capital. However, I followed the concert live and listened to it once again thanks to the "kulmag.live" Internet portal which is itself another essential part of the story that follows. 

When musicians and music, during the time of the pandemic and the closure of everything, including concert halls, massively moved to the Internet, making music online became a widespread practice that I initially had reservations and prejudices about, being used to and spoiled by the sound and energy that can only be experienced in suitable concert venues.
However, now that I have moved far away from the metropolises, I appreciate much more the opportunity for people who are distant from and have no access to concert halls to enjoy top-quality music and performances. Even before the pandemic, the Berlin Philharmonic had perfected this form of communication with the audience with its "Digital Concert Hall". Many followed Berliners' example, but few have done it as skillfully and technically perfectly as the Liechtenstein team behind the online portal "kulmag.live".
Behind this project, as well as many others that have contributed greatly to the development of music in Liechtenstein and, in particular, the recognition of the finest young musicians and their representation on the international music scene, is the Croatian musician and cultural entrepreneur Dražen Domjanic.
The Zagreb guest performance of the Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra, of which Domjanic was the director and intendant until last autumn, is a kind of culmination of his long-standing efforts towards cultural connections between his homeland, Croatia, and the Principality which he chose as a new place for his family's life and work three and a half decades ago.
Many young Croatian musicians, who are now international stars, have greatly benefited from the support and opportunities provided by Domjanic's Liechtenstein Music Academy, including scholarships and performances at the festivals he initiated and organized.
The presence of Croatian musicians in Liechtenstein was evident in this concert, with several familiar faces in the orchestra, members of the Zagreb Philharmonic, the Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, and the Zagreb Soloists, all of them led by the concertmaster Martin Draušnik. I was particularly pleased to see and hear the solo bassoonist, Matko Smolcic, who four years ago received the International Classical Music Award (ICMA) for the best young musician of the year. I had the opportunity to witness his talent and skill at Domjanic's Next Generation Festival in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland, as well as in the programs of the Croatian Baroque Ensemble and the Korcula Baroque Festival.
The concert's soloist, the young Ukrainian pianist Dmytro Choni, was also a scholarship recipient of Domjanic's Liechtenstein Academy and Foundation for many years.
Finally, as another significant connection to Croatia, the conductor of this program was the outstanding young Polish maestro, Dawid Runtz, who is the chief conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic.
All of the above contributes to a beautiful international music and cultural story, with our compatriot Domjanic as the main driving force and visionary. However, all of this would be a mere footnote in some Croatian and Liechtenstein cultural columns if the music at the highest artistic level did not sound at the centre, serving as the reason, purpose, and meaning.
The focus on music and musicians is evident in every technical detail of the online broadcasts, including the recording and archiving of concerts. Listeners are provided with all the essential information about the programs, and before the concert, they can watch recorded comments by the conductor and soloists about the works. The sound quality is exceptionally high, with a transparent sonic image of the orchestra, and the video production and direction by Andreas Domjanic and Andreas Grabherr (seven discreet cameras!) are done according to the highest professional standards, visually highlighting every important detail of the score. 
The program was simultaneously attractive, featuring the well-known and colossal Symphony No. 1 by Gustav Mahler in the second half, as well as informative with rarely performed rarities in the first half. A listener unfamiliar with the composition titles, but knowledgeable about music history, would have been convinced from the first notes of the Concert Overture in E major, which opened the evening, that they were listening to some unknown orchestral work by Richard Strauss. However, it is actually Opus 12 by the great Polish composer Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937), whose youthful work is entirely infused with Strauss's influence in all its elements - orchestration, harmonization, melodic and rhythmic aspects - paying homage to the young Pole's great German inspiration.
The name of the next composer on the program is mainly known to organists, and many people do not know that Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger (1839-1901), who spent the majority of his life as a prominent musician and educator in Munich, where one of his later famous students was Richard Strauss, is actually the greatest pride of the musical culture of the Principality of Liechtenstein, where he was born.
The concert provided us with a rare opportunity to hear Rheinberger's only Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A-flat major, Op. 94. Although the work lacks the inventiveness and genius inspiration of Rheinberger's romantic models starting from Brahms, a very careful and sensitive performance, and where necessary - such as in the third movement - a technically virtuosic performance by Dmytro Choni highlighted all of its qualities in a very wide dynamic and expressive range.
Amidst the enthusiastic applause, the Ukrainian pianist thanked the audience with a subtle impressionistic pianistic lace of Debussy's "L'isle joyeuse."
The orchestra and the conductor showcased their best in the aforementioned compositions, but the real test came with Mahler's Symphony nicknamed "Titan." I have already encountered Maestro Runtz through his performances with the Zagreb Philharmonic, and I know him as a conductor of great knowledge and charisma, without which there can be no satisfactory, let alone ecstatic performances that make sense only when it comes to the works of the gigantic symphonic opus of Gustav Mahler.
By bestowing his full trust and attention on the young conductor, the musicians of the Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra elevated the performance to a very high level, which, I am convinced, provided great satisfaction and an exceptional musical experience to the audience of the Lisinski Saturday series - a spoiled audience accustomed to the sound of selected world orchestras.
From the mysterious atmosphere at the symphony's beginning, every detail in the orchestra was a reason for the listeners' joy, such as the first characteristic motive performed by the clarinets, and a little later, the first appearance of the horns. It was an entirely convincing performance in every aspect, which can only come into existence in one way: by each musician of the orchestra being convinced of the significance, beauty, importance, and meaning of what they are playing, and by shaping each tone as a life mission.
Maestro Runtz, with his great composure, immersion in the score (stored in his mind), and passion, shaped all these details and individual musical skills into a magnificent, consistently astounding, and truly titanic whole, to the joy of the orchestra and the audience (at least the listener writing this review).
When we hear the name Liechtenstein, we will probably first think of banks, wealth, and the high standard of living in the small Alpine Principality nestled between Austria and Switzerland. Their bankers, entrepreneurs, and the princely family themselves are generous supporters of the arts. However, money alone is not enough for a country, especially one so small, to be important on the cultural map of the world. Dedicated artists are needed, such as the musicians of the Liechtenstein Symphony Orchestra demonstrated in this concert, and such quality certainly cannot be a one-time occurrence, but rather the result of long-term efforts and work of many people, including organizers and builders of the music life and world, like our compatriot Dražen Domjanic.
It's a pity that Croatia did not know how to recognize, accept, and utilize his example, ideas, energy, and abilities much better.