New Frontiers in Music:
Composer Olga Neuwirth in conversation with Frank J. Oteri

Friday, April 13, 2007
Philadelphia Center for Arts and Heritage
1608 Walnut Street, 18th Floor
Philadelphia, PA

PMP hosted a one-on-one discussion with Austrian composer Olga Neuwirth, which was moderated by NewMusicBox editor Frank J. Oteri. Ms. Neuwirth was visiting the United States to attend performances of her David Lynch-inspired opera “Lost Highways,” produced by the Oberlin Conservatory at New York’s Miller Theater. Ms. Neuwirth shared samples of her work and discussed the new music scene across the Atlantic.

About Olga Neuwirth
At the age of 22, the Austrian composer Olga Neuwirth first came into the international limelight in 1991 during the performance of her two quick-witted mini-operas at the Viennese Festival. The theatrical power and black humour of both pieces have become a constant feature in her oeuvre. She herself likes to compare her work with earlier daguerreotypes: centred on a sharply defined opening motif, the remainder is presented in a frayed and over-exposed fashion. The use of twisted enlargements and the succession of what are sometimes strongly contrasting impressions and viewpoints could be likened to the skills of a film producer. Besides an affinity for film, one also notices a strong passion for literature: from Charles Baudelaire to Elfriede Jelinek, from Goethe to Gertrude Stein.
 
Olga Neuwirth's sophisticated sound universe combines acoustic with electronic (tape and live transformations) and electro-acoustic instruments (electric guitars in Photophorus). Her compositions resemble winding labyrinths that never quite reveal themselves upon a first hearing. Those who will be looking out for landmarks will be looking in vain: fixed points of support, such as pitch, instrumental timbre and formal processes are all absorbed or erased by the music. Even that what is familiar and well known feels strange due to the systematic deconstruction of the everyday acoustic experience. However, the harder it is to recognize individual sounds, the easier it is for the listener to create his/her own associations.
 
Because of their rich frame of reference, their uncompromising nature and their aggressive acquisition of material, her compositions demand re-assessment of everyday values, even when something is not called into question. In this sense, her work could also be interpreted as a permanent revolt against the absurdity of (contemporary) life. During a protest demonstration last February, she remarked that 'to me, the purpose of music cannot possibly be to lull people to sleep with the promise of creating a unity overcoming all contradiction and to make them docile…  I cannot make reality any better than it is. I would like my audience to consist of people who are fully aware, who consider art to be a reflection of an enquiring mind wishing to understand that what is familiar, and to conquer that what rules and to venture into the unknown.'
 
Olga Neuwirth has studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, at the Elektroakustisches Institut in Vienna and the Conservatory of Music in San Francisco. Inspiring encounters with Adriana Hölzsky, Tristan Murail and Luigi Nono definitively steered her towards composition. In 1994, she was a member of a composers' forum whilst on a Holiday Course in Darmstadt, and in 1996 she was a guest in Berlin with a grant from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst. In 1998, the Salzburg Festival dedicated two concerts to her set in the 'Next Generation' series. In September 2000, she succeeded Magnus Lindberg as In-House Composer at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders.