- Puzzle
Brigitte Stradiot, Austria
The “Fifth Switzerland” is a colourful, varied and multilingual puzzle with well over 800,000 pieces.
Today’s puzzle piece is …
Brigitte Stradiot, 1954, opera and concert singer, singing teacher,
professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria.
She has lived in Vienna since 1978.
In which location or country would you say, ‘This is my home’?
I was born in Switzerland and spent my childhood and youth there. My roots lie there. Today I am happily married in Vienna and my life is in this beautiful city and at the countryside in Stetteldorf am Wagram/Lower Austria. I feel at home in both countries.
What references to Switzerland do you have in your house?
My husband Georg and I are renovating and restoring the Renaissance castle Schloss Stetteldorf am Wagram. It has a longstanding connection to Switzerland, having been built in 1580 by Ticino architect Andreas Piazzol and then converted to a Baroque style in 1700 by Ticino architect and master plasterer Johann Jacob Castelli.
What relationship do you have with Switzerland?
I have family and friends there and the cultural exchange of music and art. As the artistic director of the Stetteldorfer Akzente, I enjoy arranging performances for Swiss artists in Austria, the most recent example being the Untergrund Quintett from Lucerne.
Do you maintain personal contacts with other Swiss Abroad?
I value any contact with Swiss people and I do cultivate that. What I like most is being able to speak Swiss German again, for example at events hosted by Schweizer Gesellschaft Wien.
Why did you go to Vienna?
I came to Vienna in 1978 to study singing. After completing my course, I performed all over the world. However, my life remained centred in Vienna through my professorship for singing at the University of Music and my husband.
Do you participate in votes in Switzerland? If so, why?
I do usually, because I care about what goes on in my old homeland.
How do you keep informed about what is happening in Switzerland?
I read the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” newspaper and “Swiss Review”, surf the Internet and talk to my siblings and friends via WhatsApp. Switzerland is often overlooked in the Austrian media as it is not an EU country.
To me, being Swiss means …
... upholding and defending values and democracy.