Andrea Eckert - Chanson Recital at the SKGT Gmunden Festival

Tickets for the Salzkammergut Festival in Gmunden

Chanson Evening – Beautiful Enough to Make You Cry, Bitter Enough to Make You Laugh

With the “Sprachresonanzen” series, the Salzkammergut Festwochen Gmunden 2027 pays tribute to outstanding artists who have shaped the festival’s literary profile over the past four decades.

Together with André Heller, to whom the 2016 literary focus was dedicated, Andrea Eckert developed this special evening, which combines language, literature, and music into a powerful artistic experience. In her multifaceted program of song and recitation, Andrea Eckert pays tribute to the works of significant Jewish poets, composers, and cabaret artists. Texts and songs by Friedrich Hollaender, Georg Kreisler, Kurt Weill, Randy Newman, André Heller, Barbara, Thomas Brasch, and Else Lasker-Schüler merge into moving masterpieces that range from melancholy to humor, from longing to worldly wisdom.

She is accompanied by Philipp Jagschitz on piano and Otmar Klein on accordion, saxophone, and clarinet.

Following the performance, Peter Grubmüller, culture editor of the OÖ Nachrichten, will speak with Andrea Eckert about her collaboration with André Heller, the creation of the program, and the timeless relevance of its themes.

André Heller on Andrea Eckert and this program:

“Andrea Eckert is a precious Austrian theatrical marvel. Among connoisseurs, missing a performance by this exceptional artist is rightly considered a sin of omission. Her program ‘Too Beautiful to Cry, Too Bitter to Laugh’ is a deeply moving homage to the Jewish soul that remains timelessly relevant.”

An evening full of poetry, music, and humanity—moving, intelligent, and imbued with the power that art can unleash when its impact lingers far beyond the final note and the last word.