Shows in Hamburg

The end of August saw * and me going to Hamburg to visit B. who was there for an internship at a publisher’s (how cool is that?). Anyway, we spent four days there and had a really nice time.

Linz, European Culture Capital 09

At the end of July, I went on another short weekend trip. This time, I went with my sis A. to Linz. As sad as it is, I rarely go on trips within Austria (unless to visit people), so I took the opportunity of Linz being European Culture Capital this year and figured I’d go to see it.

Cold War Kids (Support: Bilderbuch)

deadra lives in a really small town in Styria, where they have about five houses*, a gas station, five billion cows* and a club. This club is really pretty awesome, especially for this town. They regularly have [good! and cheap!] concerts there and when deadra told me that this year, they’d have the Cold War Kids, it was so on! Especially since the festivals this year were all kind of disappointing.

*Numbers might be exaggerated.

Their support was Bilderbuch, an up and coming Austrian indie/punk rock band.

The Infernal Comedy

[In case you were wondering, we're now at the beginning of July with my reviews. ;)]

The Infernal Comedy is a play written by Michael Sturminger [German] about Jack Unterweger, famous serial killer and society guy. It stars John Malkovich.

Plot:
Jack Unterweger (John Malkovich) is in hell, where he does a reading of his autobiography to an eclectic audience (us). With him, there are two singers (Laura Aikin and Aleksandra Zamojska) who play the various women in his life, while performing – with an orchestra – various arias from different operas.
[You can read the entire script at the homepage I linked to above.]

It’s an awesome play, capturing the fascination Unterweger had on Vienna’s high society (especially the women) as much as the gruesome murders he committed. Despite the dire topic, it has some really good laughs and the music is very well chosen.

Othello

Slowly, slowly, I’ll get all my reviews done. Because of my slight OCD, I decided that I’ll stick to the chronological order (at least mostly). We’re now at the end of June (the 20th, to be exact).

In June, there was still the Wiener Festwochen (Viennese Theater Festival). I already wrote about other productions I have seen, but this particular show was definitely the climax.

On to the actual review.

Othello is a play by William Shakespeare, for those of you who didn’t know. I saw the production by the LAByrinth Theatre Company, directed by Peter Sellars and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Ortiz, Jessica Chastain and LeRoy McClain.

Plot:
When Iago (Philip Seymour Hoffman) doesn’t get the promotion he expected from his superior, Othello (John Ortiz), who happens to be black, but instead has to watch the younger Cassio (LeRoy McClain) getting promoted above him, he decides to have his revenge on Othello and Cassio. He uses the people around him to make Othello insanely jealous of his wife Desdemona (Jessica Chastain), he spins intrigue after intrigue and, as can be expected, things don’t end well.

The play is very good and the production was interesting. It was modernised, though they did stick to the original text. The acting was superb. But I did have some problems with some of the political messages Sellars wanted to send here. Still, it’s a super-special-awesome treat to just watch the cast and definitely worth the four and a half hours you spend in the theatre.

Ennio Marchetto

[Okay, I was pretty sure that I posted a video of him a while ago, but I can't find it anymore... Oh well.]

Ennio Marchetto is an Italian comedian. He has paper costumes which he changes on stage while performing playback songs. That might not sound like much, but believe you me: It’s absolutely awesome and piss-myself-funny. He came to Vienna with his current programme.

Out of the Shadow

Out of the Shadow is an Austrian dance production by Hip Hop/Breakdance group Nobulus.

Plot:
[Yes, it has one.] Out of the Shadow shows us the Human evolution, from cave men to modern society. It covers such big topics as love and violence, conformity, pollution, freedom etc etc. It’s a Hip Hop dance perfomrance but set to a classical soundtrack and framed by a narrative poem which tells us the story.

It really was a perfect show – funny, thoughtful and beautiful to look at. My only complaints are of organisational nature. Definitely recommended, if you get a chance to catch it, do so!

Spring Awakening (Musical)

Spring Awakening is a musical by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater. The production in Vienna is in German and stars Rasmus Borkowski, Hanna Kastner, Wolfgang Türks and Julia Stemberger. It’s based on Frank Wedekind’s play.

Plot:
Wendla [Hanna Kastner], Melchior [Rasmus Borkowski] and Moritz [Wolfgang Türks] are teenagers at the end of the 19th century. They grow up in a (sexual) void – nobody tells them about sexuality. So they have to find things out for themselves – which doesn’t end very well.
Melchior is an atheist and rebel who, unlike most kids his age, knows about sex. Moritz, his classmate, is shy and haunted by erotic dreams he can neither understand nor handle and which make him fail school. And Wendla doesn’t even know where babies come from.

I’ve never read/seen the play, though I’ve been meaning to for a while. Judging by the musical, the play must be really very good.
The musical itself had some issues, most of which are production specific problems – the translation was horrible and the cast was pretty forgettable. [But worst offender was the choreography in my opinion (which seems to be international).] But apart from that, it was entertaining and the music is pretty good.

[SPOILERS]

Top 10: Musicals

I just saw Spring Awakening and it was pretty bad. [Review follows.] So, what better time to think about the good examples from the Musical world (which are of course plenty)?

I tried to limit myself to one musical per writer, which is sometimes very hard and sometimes I cheated. But you’re probably used to that by now anyway. :)

Joseph Haydn under Nikolaus Hanoncourt with Clemens Hagen and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

This concert was actually the opening concert for the 34th International Music Festival “Elites”, which is dedicated to Joseph Haydn and Franz Schubert. It was conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and the solo for the violoncello was played by Clemens Hagen. The orchestra were the Vienna Philharmonics.

The programme (all by Joseph Haydn):

Symphony D-Dur Hob. I/93 «Chime Symphonie» (1791)
Concert for Violoncello and Orchestra C-Dur Hob. VIIb/1 (1765 ca.)
Symphony Es-Dur Hob. I/103 «Drumroll» (1795)

It was a beautiful concert. I’m usually not much of Haydn fan, but I really liked the Drumroll symphony. And I really like the cello.

I can’t say anything about the quality of the playing, because I probably wouldn’t hear the difference between the Vienna Philharmonics and the Estonian Amateur Orchestra, but it sounded good.

And it was really funny to watch Clemens Hagen and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Both get very worked up and their hair flies in all directions. :)

[I bet this is the worst concert review ever.]