Ernst Molden and Neue Wiener Concert Schrammeln feat.Tini Kainrath

Ernst Molden & Neue Wiener Concert Schrammeln feat. Tini Kainrath
mei liab

The love song — called Hadern (meaning rags or scraps) in Viennese, with affection and a touch of irreverence — is a cornerstone of the work of songwriter and poet Ernst Molden. This has been true at least since the 1990s, when he attended Nick Cave’s masterclass at the Vienna School of Poetry, where Cave, under the title The Lovesong and How to Write One, told his students that there was no nobler artistic pursuit than writing a love song. Molden told Ö1: For decades I have basically been writing songs to be considered cool by one and the same woman.

The album project Mei Liab is devoted entirely and exclusively to the love song — and does so through a first-time, very special collaboration. With the Neue Wiener Concert Schrammeln (violinists Peter Uhler and Nikolai Tunkowitsch, master of the Viennese chromatic button accordion Marie-Theres Stickler, and guitarist and bandleader Peter Havlicek), Molden is joined by sensitive modernizers of classical Viennese folk music and outstanding arrangers.

The collaboration began after the death of Willi Resetarits, when Ernst Molden stepped in to perform with the Schrammeln in place of the late singer. A number of concerts followed in Vienna and throughout the provinces, culminating in their joint appearance at André Heller’s Vienna-themed evening at the Elbphilharmonie in March 2024. The cycle Mei Liab brings together eight newly written love songs by Molden with four older, partly iconic pieces (such as Es Lem). After the great loss of Walther Soyka in spring 2025, Marie-Theres Stickler — known among other things from Alma — now appears on accordion.

Performers:
Ernst Molden: vocals, guitar
Tini Kainrath: vocals
Neue Wiener Concert Schrammeln:
Peter Uhler, Nikolai Tunkowitsch: violins
Marie-Theres Stickler: chromatic button accordion
Peter Havlicek: contra guitar

Program and cast