Hanni Liang: From the depths

Brucknerfest Linz 2026. The pianist Hanni Liang places Frederic Rzewski's setting of Oscar Wilde's De profundis "for speaking pianist", framed by piano works by Bruckner, at the center of an extraordinary concert evening.

A few minutes after Anton Bruckner's death on October 11, 1896 at half past three in the afternoon, the chaplain of Belvedere Palace prayed the psalm "De profundis" at his deathbed: "From the depths I call to you, Lord". At the same time, Oscar Wilde wrote a 50,000-word letter as an inmate of the prison in Reading, England, which was later published under the title De profundis. The addressee was Lord Alfred Douglas, whose intimate relationship with Oscar Wilde had ultimately led to the poet's social ostracism and condemnation. The text is an eloquent, wild apology between self-reflection and the pursuit of transcendence. With Frederic Rzewski's congenial setting of this de profundis "for speaking pianist", framed by piano works by Bruckner and performative pieces by La Monte Young, pianist and concert designer Hanni Liang places an extraordinary work at the center of her multi-sensory program, in which the stage takes center stage in the Middle Hall.