| Off The Beaten Path |
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| THE HILLS ARE ALIVE: The founder of the Styriarte Festival, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, conducts the Concentus Musicus Orchestra of Vienna and the Arnold Schoenberg choir in the parish church of Stainz, outside Graz |
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UNITED KINGDOM
 SUMMER PEARLS: London's architectural gems along the banks of the Thames
MUSIC: Europe's best pop and rock gatherings
BAGPIPES: The plaintive sounds of Scotland
SUBMARIUM: Journey to the bottom of the sea
FESTIVALS: Fun in the sun in West Belfast
MORE ..
FRANCE and SWITZERLAND
VULCANIA: Blow your top at France's volcano park
ART: Berthe Morisot, the unknown Impressionist
FESTIVALS: Aix-en-Provence has it all
ART: The Barbizon School painters come to life
ART: Take a stroll through medieval gardens of delight
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SPAIN, PORTUGAL, ITALY and GREECE
SALAMANCA: The city splashes out on culture
MUSIC: God's rock stars: the singing Greek monks
FOOD: Italy's unusual culinary delights
FILM: Great outdoor viewing in Rome
MORE ..
GERMANY and BENELUX
HORTICULTURE: The world blossoms at Floriade
BRUGGE: Belgium's second city shines
ART: Berlin's homage to multiculturalism
ART: The best of the world's artists on show at Documenta 11
DANCE: Czech twin ballerinos steal the show in Hamburg
MORE ..
CENTRAL and EASTERN EUROPE
ART: Yugoslavia's modern art museum is back
ART: A retrospective of Samizdat art and writing from the Communist bloc
GRAZ: Austria's little-known city of culture
MORE ..
THE NORDIC REGION
DESIGN: Denmark celebrates Arne Jacobsen
MUSEUM: Get a blast from the past at Stalin World
STOCKHOLM: Welcome to the Venice of the North
MUSIC: Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes on tour
MORE ..
PLUS
LISTINGS: Other things to see and do in each region
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Austria's second city, Graz, offers first-class culture — and clowns
By ANGELA LEUKER
Salzburg and Vienna may be the most prominent cultural venues in Austria, but insiders know that the provincial capital of Graz is the place to go for those who like their summer culture on a more intimate level. Tucked away in the southeastern province of Styria, Graz is best known for its avant-garde autumn festival of the arts, Steirischer Herbst, but in recent years a richly varied program of summer events has attracted growing numbers of people. They come to stroll through the narrow cobbled streets and romantic courtyards of the old town, sip coffee in pavement cafés, and experience a cultural scene more dynamic and innovative than that of many better-known European cities.
Chief among its summer attractions is the "Styriarte" Festival — founded by conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt, who grew up in Graz — which each year engages with a particular theme as expressed through music. This year's festival, from June 21 to July 21, explores mankind's yearning for the divine. Under the theme "Looking Upward," it embraces prayers, pleas and inspirational works of praise musically directed to heaven by the world's greatest composers. Concerts include Haydn's Mass No. 10, Heiligmesse, with the Concentus Musicus Orchestra of Vienna, the Arnold Schoenberg Choir and the divine voice of Cecilia Bartoli, staged in the Baroque parish church of Stainz outside Graz. The exuberant Italian chamber orchestra Il Giardino Armonico presents its unique interpretation of Handel's La Resurrezione, and the work of young Austrian composer Florian Gessler can be heard across the city's Italianate roofscape when the bells of Graz's Schlossberg hill swing into action at the premier of his composition Glocken (Bells).
From July 26 to Aug. 3, the historic center of Graz becomes one vast stage as the International Street and Puppet Theater Festival, "La Strada," transforms everyday city bustle into a colorful event. More than 20 groups of the world's best acrobats, clowns and performers participate in this series of open-air happenings, frequently bringing traffic to a halt and always delighting the crowds.
Graz's love affair with innovation stems partly from the youthfulness
of its population. Although once the pensioners' paradise of
the Austro-Hungarian Empire, today the city has three thriving
universities, whose 50,000 students account for a fifth of its
inhabitants. This translates into a penchant for cool music,
especially jazz, which is reflected in the festival Jazz Summer
Graz, running from July 11 to Aug. 24. For those who prefer
something classical, there is an open-air film festival of famous
opera productions in the gorgeous arcaded Renaissance courtyard
of the Landhaus (provincial parliament building). "Classics
in the City" runs from July 5 to Sept. 1 and it doesn't cost
a euro. Next year Graz moves into the international spotlight
as the E.U.'s designated European Capital of Culture. The exposure
will surely initiate large numbers of Europeans into the secrets
of the city's unique blend of tradition and modernity.
Styriarte Festival, Graz, Austria • Dates:
June 21-July 21 • Tickets:
adults, €16-€95 Phone: +43 (0)316 825000
• Website: www.styriarte.com
or www.graztourism.at
• e-mail: info@styriarte.com
or info@graztourismus.at
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FROM WALDMÜLLER TO SCHIELE: An exhibition of 19th and early 20th century Austrian painting. Schloss Eggenberg Until Sept. 30