Franui

Franui (c) Raffale Proell

INFOBOX

Genre(s): Folk
From: Tyrol, Austria
Label: www.col-legno.com/de/shop/?p=franui
Contact: office@franui.at
Website: www.franui.at
Facebook
Instagram
Youtube

BIOGRAPHY

FRANUI is a unique music ensemble based on a mountain pasture near the small village of Innervillgraten in East Tyrol, Austria. Situated at 1,402 meters above sea level, the area is rich in cultural heritage, with a name derived from the Rhaeto-Romantic language, reflecting the region’s proximity to the Ladin-speaking area in the Dolomite Alps.

Since 1993, FRANUI has been performing together with nearly the same lineup, earning recognition at major festivals and venues such as the Wiener Konzerthaus, Vienna Burgtheater, Salzburg Festival, Bregenzer Festspiele, Ruhrtriennale, Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, Münchner Opernfestspiele, Philharmonie Köln, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Schauspielhaus Zurich, Holland Festival, and Philharmonie de Paris.

The ensemble has gained widespread acclaim for their innovative adaptations of classical lieder by composers like Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, and Mahler. They describe themselves as a “transformer station between classical music, folk music, jazz, and contemporary chamber music.” FRANUI’s performances often blend traditional interpretations with creative reinterpretations, at times reimagining classics by stripping them down to their core, enhancing, or completely reinventing them. This process blurs the line between interpretation, improvisation, arrangement, and (re)composition.

FRANUI frequently collaborates with exceptional performers, including baritone Florian Boesch, writer Hans Magnus Enzensberger, puppeteer Nikolaus Habjan, the Viennese song duo Die Strottern, the mask theater ensemble Familie Flöz, video artist Jonas Dahlberg, comedian duo Maschek, and esteemed actors like Regina Fritsch, Dörte Lyssewski, Sven-Eric Bechtolf, Wolfram Berger, and Peter Simonischek.

The ensemble’s albums, released by the label col legno, have won several prestigious awards. Their 2018 album Ständchen der Dinge, celebrating their 25th anniversary, received the German Record Critics’ Award, further solidifying their place in the international music scene.