Bodo Wartke: Die Wühlmäuse Berlin, 25.06.2009 June 26, 2009

Yesterday evening was a sparkling evening in Die Wühlmäuse am Theo, Berlin. E. and I bought tickets for König ödipus, by Bodo Wartke (http://www.bodowartke.de) several months ago. I was anxious to see one of the first German artists of which I became a fan (after the Wise Guys) live on stage.

After a first attempt, where Bodo Wartke would be part of an Adventsspiel, but he fell out due to illness, this was our second attempt to see him live. A couple of weeks ago, I received word that he broke his foot and that he would not be playing his new show in the 25th. My world almost collapsed: how could he be out on the two occasions that I wanted to see him???

Luckily he announced an Ersatzshow on the 25th in which he remained behind his piano. Poor guy. Nevertheless he was full of energy and put on a great show! We were sucked into a great rush of laughter, seriousness and plain out entertainment.

In one of his songs, he mimicks a Dutch person that says “I love you” (ik hou van jou). He makes fun of the way they say “hou” and then concludes by asking if there are Dutch people in the room he might have offended. He was completely caught off guard when E. and I raised our hands, pointing out that we were speakers of Dutch ). This was a hilarious moment for us, he was totally not expecting this!

Anyway, he is great, gave 3 extra songs and was extremely nice and friendly on stage. We booked tickets for a show in november (where he must play König ödipus, and if he is ill, I will be very angry, yes Bodo, I will be very angry!!!). I am already looking forward to it!

Nachtmusik: Egidius from The Netherlands May 10, 2009

Yesterday, I was able to experience something wonderful in the Radialsystem V here in Berlin. Their Nachtmusik programme consists of late evening concerts in a studio/loft on the fifth floor in the Radialsystem. It’s a low ceiling space, industrial concrete, large windows, but with very good acoustics! The audience lays down in a circle around a central spot in which the artists can stand. Yoga mats and pillows are there for your comfort. The whole atmosphere is just great.

So, yesterday evening we listened to a Dutch quartet of male singers – Egidius – who sang songs from the 14th century until now. It was amazing how well and clear the alto was performed and I like the bass also. The tenor seemed a little insecure and the baritone was sweating but steady. It was very interesting to hear that the music in itself did not change so much, although you could clearly distinguish the modern music from the older pieces (clusters and so on…).

They sang beautiful (and difficult) songs from Orlando di Lasso and Schubert with a lot of respect, and texts such as the Egidius poem were performed breath-takingly. For me, this was a very successful performance.

Playing elephant April 12, 2009

Playing elephant by T. Ruette

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