Friedrch Cerha: A Sketch

He was characterized long ago by his own specific set of adjectives: enigmatic, introverted, unwordly, ironical, cranky. We are speaking of Friedrich Cerha whose great moment—according to the criteria of the culture industry—came in 1981: first performance of Baal at the Salzburg Festival; first performance of Netzwerk under his direction during the Vienna Festival, at the Theater an der Wien; conducting Alban Berg's Lulu at the Styrian Autumn in Graz (Cerha had completed the third act of that work, which Berg left as a fragment, in 1978). These were just the biggest rewards of Cerha's Year, which catapulted the composer—until then known internationally only to connoisseurs and amateurs of music—into the consciousness even of politicians and culture buffs. Is that what he wanted? Does it tally with the abovementioned adjectives? He must have wanted it to some extent, for no composer could seriously wish to prevent the performing of his work. And on occasion he may even fit in with the cultural obligations, which, sensibly, do not always seek to ruin creative talents.