After the success of the highly acclaimed first Loewe Festival in 2002, the city of Löbejün and the International Carl Loewe Society prepared and organized the second Carl Loewe Festival in November 2004 with great commitment. Music lovers from Saxony-Anhalt and all over Germany as well as the two presidents of the Loewe companies in Austria and Japan traveled.
The Minister of Culture Jan-Hendrik Olbertz took over the patronage; In his short celebratory speech at the opening on November 26th in the hall of the historic town estate, he emphasized the previously little-known areas of Carl Loewe's work. The Symphony in E minor was probably performed for the first time in 170 years by the Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau. It was “the discovery of the year” – said GMD Golo Berg, who is strongly committed to reviving such treasures that have a connection to regional music history.
In the first concert of the holiday, solo excerpts from the oratorio “The Destruction of Jerusalem” were on the program. It is the work after whose successful performance in Berlin Carl Loewe was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Greifswald in 1832. The passages presented now show Loewe, who, as in a large number of his ballads, is able to musically create shocking scenes and situations using very simple means and yet with dramatic power.
In another highlight of the festive season, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau received honorary membership of the International Carl Loewe Society. The man so honored came to Löbejün accompanied by his no less famous wife Julia Varady. Since Fischer-Dieskau no longer sings in public, he gave a wonderful lecture on Carl Loewe's art of ballads, which was received with much applause from the audience thanks to some of his earlier recordings. The famous guest of honor also signed records that many guests had brought with them - a star you could touch.
Through the interpretation of extensive Loewe piano compositions (Great Duo for piano four hands, op. 18; Mazeppa - Ballad without voice, tone poem after Byron for piano op. 27; Grande Sonata in F minor élégique, op. 32), performed by Nabuko Nagaoka and Peter Braun-Feldweg (both Hanover) made Loewe's high demands on piano technique and virtuosity clear to all visitors. Carl Loewe's instrumental music still holds some surprises - plenty of material for the following Carl Loewe celebrations.
On the second day, after the Loewe honor at the Carl Loewe Monument and the subsequent city tour and the general meeting of the ICLG e.V., issue 2 of the series - Publications of the International Carl Loewe Society e.V. - was published by the author, Dr. Henry Joachim Kühn presented “On the history of the Löbejüner Loewe associations”.
The conclusion of the 2nd Carl Loewe Festival was celebrated by the well-known actor Dieter Mann in “Fülle des Wohllauts”, a chapter from “The Magic Mountain” by Thomas Mann - version by Marcus Mislin as a solo piece for a narrator, a gramophone and many records received much applause from the numerous listeners.
