Musikfest Part 5: Strange Overtones

These days, the alphorn is most commonly spotted on poster advertisements extolling the virtues of spending your holiday in Switzerland; they are less frequently seen – or, for that matter, heard – in the concert hall. Yet Georg Friedrich Haas’ baffling and strangely brilliant concerto grosso no. 1 – performed by the Hornroh Modern Alphorn Quartet with the SWR Sinfonieorchester under the direction of François-Xavier Roth – was no mere novelty piece. And while the concerto was paired with an uneven sprint through Bruckner’s Eighth symphony, the deep stirring sonorities of the alphorns as reimagined by Haas made for one of the most memorable programmes of this year’s Musikfest.

Before getting to the evening’s unconventional highlight, it is perhaps worth saying a few brief words about the programme’s second half. François-Xavier Roth may be…