KÜLML KOMM.ST 2026 - The Cover Girls - Licence to Swing

Roland Neuwirth & radio.string.quartet - Erd´. After 19 months and four days away from the stage since leaving the Extremschrammeln, Roland Neuwirth agreed to perform at a friend’s festival in whatever lineup was offered. He did not return with his former ensemble but with the radio.string.quartet, a string quartet he has long admired. The program featured Neuwirth classics alongside new compositions arranged by the members of the r.s.q. and Neuwirth himself. The combination of a string quartet and new arrangements lifts Neuwirth’s songs to a different, special level. At first the approach can feel disorienting, like looking into a Vexierspiegel, but then, as if under a magnifying glass, they become sharper and more defined, making listening anew incredibly exciting. In Neuwirth’s own words about the project: when a great ensemble like the radio.string.quartet suddenly engages with my songs, a new dimension arises. The violinists Bernie Mallinger and Igmar Jenner played for a long time with the Extremschrammeln. They form with the virtuosic and beautiful Cynthia Liao on viola and Sophie Abraham on cello a highly virtuosic, grooving string quartet. Such presence pulls people out of lethargy, and I am sure they will understand me: I am addicted, I sing again. Roland Neuwirth, vocals. radio.string.quartet members: Bernie Mallinger (violin, octave violin, voice), Igmar Jenner (violin, octave violin), Cynthia Liao (viola, voice), Sophie Abraham (cello, voice).