Alp tradition
The Salzburg shepherd children at the Loferer Alm in autumn 2017
The shepherd children have been rehearsing on the Loferer Alm for 16 years
For the past 16 years, the shepherd children from the Salzburg Advent Singing have been gathering together at the Dürnberger family’s cozy Soder-Kaser on the Loferer-Alm to rehearse their new play for the performances in the Großes Festspielhaus. Caroline Richards (director), Markus Helminger, Simon Haitzmann and Gudrun Köhl-Korbuly assign the roles to the 19 lively girls and boys from Salzburg and Bavaria for the first time, learn the texts and rehearse the musical and vocal interludes.
At the 70th anniversary of the Salzburg Advent Singing last year, the storyline took place against the backdrop of Salzburg’s old town. This year, the scenic play takes place in the middle of a completely different backdrop, in the inhospitable, karstic high mountain area “Am Stein”. In an untouched, natural landscape that has had this appearance unchanged since long before the birth of Christ and could just as easily be the barren mountains of Judea.
Special role for little Peterl
All the shepherds scattered across the mountainous plateau gradually come together at the Schönbichl-Alm. They come from ancient pastures on the “Stein” – from the Gjaidalm, the Lausboden, the Hirzkar and the Brunngrube. They have all seen the star of promise and heard the angel’s message of peace:
