LAHORE: The Khorshed Mahal hall of Avari Hotel echoed with harmonious melodies of Jazz as famed Austrian duo Elisabeth Lohninger and Walter Fischbacher performed in a concert organised by the Austrian Embassy in collaboration with the hotel management on Tuesday evening.
The event was attended by a select number of music aficionados from the diplomatic corps and Lahore’s socialites.
Introducing the New York-based couple, Austrian Ambassador Dr Brigitta Blaha said she was “very excited” that the duo is performing in Lahore.
“The best part is that they wanted to come here and asked me to invite them, so here they are,” she exclaimed.
“It gives me immense pleasure to share Austria’s passion for good music and delicious food with our friends in Pakistan,” she said and concluded by thanking the hotel’s management and embassy staff for the cooperation.
The evening started with A Little Bit Tricky— a light-hearted composition that invited the audience not to take things too seriously; while Moments urged the listeners to enjoy the present. Fischbacher’s warm notes and Elisabeth’s powerful voice held the audience in a trance. The Austrian duo also performed Because which, according to the couple, holds secret to their successful married life. The musicians also performed Austrian folk songs.
Talking to Pakistan Today, Dr Brigitta said that they have taken a number of initiatives to introduce Austrian culture in Pakistan. “To project Pakistan’s soft image, we launched a book, titled: ‘Colours of Pakistan’.”
The duo has been making music together for over 20 years. A plethora of projects and albums lie between their first duo album and their latest release. In between, the two of them explored diverse musical avenues, wrote music for other projects, came into their own as artists. Now they step out again as a duo and a suitcase filled with a wide variety of musical influences and revelations.
