Brothers Manfred and Rainer Honeck make Strauss’ ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’ a family affair in Salzburg

SALZBURG, Austria (AP) — Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck was walking out of a rehearsal with soprano Christina Nilsson and the Vienna Philharmonic at the Haus für Mozart when they passed a violinist who had just been practicing with them. “This is the concertmaster,” Honeck said, “and also my brother.” Among nine siblings, Manfred and Rainer are making a rare joint appearance in the Salzburg Festival’s new production of Richard Strauss’ “Ariadne auf Naxos,” which runs through Aug. Director Ersan Mondtag’s unconventional staging shifts the setting from Vienna to Mars and is available to stream on Medici.

Otto, the Honecks’ father, was a postman in Nenzing, Austria, who played the flugelhorn and zither in his spare time. “He wanted us to all play an instrument. I’m not sure whether the Trapp family was somehow in his head,” Manfred said, referencing the musical clan in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music.” Manfred, who turns 68 next month, became the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s music director in 2008-09 and in June agreed to a contract extension through 2032-33 that will move him past William Steinberg (1952-76) as the orchestra’s longest-serving head.

Rainer, 65, joined the Vienna State Opera Orchestra in 1981 and was admitted to the Vienna Philharmonic three years later. He has been a concertmaster — the lead violin — since 1992. A sister, Sibylle, plays cello for the Vienna Volksoper and an older brother, Otto, was a pianist and coach for the Frankfurt Opera.

Manfred’s son Matthias is a principal second violin in the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Family didn’t have much money Manfred, the seventh sibling, and Rainer, the eighth, both played violin as kids. He wanted us to practice every day, and he practiced with us,” Rainer said.

“So he played on the piano and that was very important for us to get this routine, to have every day only one hour, but every day a practice.” A teacher, Grete Urbanek, gave them fruit yogurt at lessons. “We could not afford to buy yogurt at home. The other seven days we were eating local food, which is called ribel,” Manfred said of a local cornmeal.

Their mother, Frieda, died in 1965 after giving birth to her ninth child. A few years later, their father moved the family to Vienna so the children could access better music teachers. He has been a concertmaster — the lead violin — since 1992.A sister, Sibylle, plays cello for the Vienna Volksoper and an older brother, Otto, was a pianist and coach for the Frankfurt Opera.