The Tyrolean military musicians fascinate with their versatility and stand out with their dynamic playing at concerts and other musical performances. This was also the case at the “Edelweiss Gala Concert 2019”, which took place on Saturday at the Congress Innsbruck.
The musical performances, conducted by military bandmaster Colonel Hannes Apfolterer, delighted the audience and the numerous guests of honor, including former Archbishop Alois Kothgasser, the President of the Tyrolean Parliament Sonja Ledl-Rossmann and the Deputy Mayor of the City of Innsbruck Christine Oppitz-Plörer, in the well-attended Tirol Hall at Congress Innsbruck. Military Chief Curate Hans-Peter Schiestl warmly welcomed all visitors in his usual charming manner.
Colonel Apfolterer conducted his orchestra in the first part of the concert, from the “Fireworks Music”, a suite composed by Georg Friedrich Händel in 1748, to the “Danube Waves Waltz” composed by Josif Ivanovici, to the finale of the first part, the third movement from the completed suite “The Year of the Dragon” by Philip Sparke. An extremely demanding work that fully exploits the technical and tonal possibilities of a wind orchestra. A varied cross-section of the modern repertoire of the Militärmusik Tirol was performed in the second part of the concert. The soloists demonstrated their exceptional skills on a wide variety of instruments. The highlight of the evening was the vocal solos by the guest musicians, Lieutenant Colonel Dietmar Pranter, Military Bandmaster of the Military Music Carinthia and the well-known former military musician, retired Vice Lieutenant Klaus Schrott, who delighted the audience with hits such as “Can you feel the love tonight”, “Amor, Amor, Amor”, “Sweet Caroline” and “L’important c’est la rose”.
The musical event was accompanied by an amusing and informative presentation by Constanze Köberl-Scozzafava. All proceeds from the concert were donated to the charity “Aktion Edelweiß” of the Tyrolean military parish. Thanks to the well-considered selection of pieces, every taste in the audience was catered for on this evening. It was therefore not surprising that the military musicians and their bandmaster and composer, Colonel Prof. Hannes Apfolterer, received thunderous applause.
