01. 09. 10. - 15:00

Holender gets ORF job after ATV axe

Outgoing State Opera director Ioan Holender will host a radio talk show on national broadcaster ORF after private rival ATV scrapped his chat format, it has emerged.

The Romanian will interview high-profile personalities such as Burgtheater head Matthias Hartmann, comedian Andreas Vitasek and Social Democratic (SPÖ) parliamentary president Barbara Prammer. There will be one show per month, it was announced.

ORF said today (Weds) that the first edition of the Holender-hosted "Apropos Musik" programme will be aired on radio station Ö1 on 19 September (3.05pm), adding that ORF boss Alexander Wrabetz will be the outspoken opera expert’s first guest.

The state-owned company said the Holender shows will be recorded in front of an audience at Vienna’s Radiokulturhaus. It added guests of the new format will be asked to pick the show’s music to uncover their personal cultural preferences.

ATV, the ORF’s biggest private competitor, ditched plans to produce more editions of the acclaimed "Termin bei Holender" (Appointment with Holender) programme after just four shows earlier this year. A spokeswoman for the channel explained in July ATV had to accept that the programme was "not economical".

The TV format had Holender speaking to politicians, musicians or sport stars. The 74-year-old had a phone next to him which rang when the director reminded him not to talk too much or stop the conversation to allow a commercial break being screened.

Holender – who released his book "Ich bin noch nicht fertig. Erinnerungen." (I’m not finished yet. Memories.) a few weeks ago – headed the Vienna State Opera for a record 18 years before Frenchman Dominique Meyer took over this morning.

The infamously outspoken former opera singer has caused controversy over the years by opposing the media hype around the glamorous Opera Ball held at the State Opera. Holender tried to keep the number of days the opera house needed to stop performing because of the event as few as possible. The tennis enthusiast also criticised ORF’s live TV coverage of the high society get-together of being "boring", expressing surprise about how many people watch the broadcast lasting several hours year after year.