f. l. t. r.: Gabriele Paqué, ancestor and artist Otto von Kotzebue († 2022), Urte Lucht, Dieter E. Neuhaus
Photo: Johannes Paqué, 2019
Dear friends of music and literature,
As part of the current exhibition dedicated to the artist and good friend Otto von Kotzebue, who passed away in 2022, we are delighted to welcome dramaturge Dieter E. Neuhaus and fortepiano performer Urte Lucht in our music studio. With their magnificent performance about the life of August von Kotzebue, they not only thrilled the audience, but also moved his descendant Otto to tears.
Photo: Jörg Mascher
For some, the name August von Kotzebue may seem familiar. Born in Weimar in 1761 and killed in Mannheim in 1819, the playwright, writer and librettist was a true great in his day! It was none other than Goethe, who often staged Kotzebue’s works and performed with him on his works on the theater stage. In addition to his literary work, August von Kotzebue also received additional honors.
In 1785 he was raised to the Russian nobility. He lived for some time in Russia, until he returned to Germany in 1817 as consul general on Russian behalf. Von Kotzebue was not a friend of German liberalism and nationalism, which he often expressed through his self-published literary newspaper the Literarische Wochenblatt. Unfortunately, he made himself many enemies, especially the fraternities, which finally became his fate. On March 23, 1819, the fraternity member and theology student Karl Ludwig Sand broke into the former residence of Kotzebue in Mannheim and stabbed him in front of his 4-year-old son, while he said: “Here, you traitor of the Fatherland!”
This evening is dedicated to this special person and what could be better than a reading with stories by August von Kotzebues while being accompanied by classical music.
Dieter E. Neuhaus can already look back on a remarkable career as a staging director of various operas and plays. His 25 open-air theater projects on the occasion of historical events, which he staged together with the citizens of the respective city or region, are also particularly special. In addition, he appeared in more than 500 theater productions as an actor. Between 1975 and 1978 he was also a dramaturg at the theater of Bonn.
Urte Lucht takes over the musical arrangement of this evening with composers, who may well have been known by von Kotzebue. The program includes works by W. A. Mozart, F. Schubert and L. v. Beethoven. Incidentally, it is known that August von Kotzebue stood even in contact with Beethoven! Urte Lucht studied both the harpsichord and the pianoforte (among others with the world-famous Gustav Leonhardt) and she can now call several international awards her own.
Together, the two artists form a very special duo of literature and music!
Otto von Kotzebue (1936–2022) was the great-grandson of August von Kotzebue and himself a painter and architect who frequently exhibited in our gallery during his lifetime. With this exhibition, we would like to honour and commemorate him once again. During his travels, he visited many countries, including the United States and Russia, whose impressions are immortalised in his impressionistic paintings and whose subtle impressions of the countries have lost none of their relevance in view of the current world situation. You can find more information about Otto von Kotzebue here.
The reading will be in German!
Saturday, 09 May 2026
17:00 h
Blücherstraße 14
53115 Bonn
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Admission: 30,- €
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PROGRAM:
“Dwarfs remain dwarves, even if they sit on the Alps …!”
Literary-theatrical and musical encounters with the poet August von Kotzebue,
who was stabbed by a student on March 23, 1819 in Mannheim
designed by Urte Lucht (Hammerklavier)
and Dieter E. Neuhaus (voice)
Reading (in German)
– “Ein guter Mord, ein echter Mord…“
Gerichtsdiener in „Woyzeck“ von Georg Büchner
– „Ermordung des russischen Staatsraths August von Kotzebue…“
Erinnerungsblätter für gebildete Leser aus allen Ständen am 4. April 1819
– „Zwischenbemerkungen: „1761 bis 1819 ist eine Lebenszeit….“
– Kotzebues „Ausbruch der Verzweiflung“
Gedicht
– Zwischenbemerkung: „Koetzebue, ein Diener von Kaisern, Zaren, Fürsten…..“
– Kotzebues „Gebet um Dummheit“
Gedicht
– Zwischenbemerkung: „Kotzebues Städte – Ein Leben in Europa…“
– Kotzebues Alltag
Erinnerungen
– Zwischenbemerkung: „Kotzebues Ehen – Ein Leben in der Familie.“
– Kotzebues Moral „Der Schiffer“
Gedicht
– August von Kotzebue – Homme de Theatre: „Sein Debut als Schauspieler“
Erinnerungen
– Zwischenbemerkung: „Kotzebue am Theater in der ganzen Welt….“
– Kotzebues „Gedanken eines Bauern beim Guckkasten (Schauspieltheater)“
Gedicht
– Zwischenbemerkung: „Kotzebues Welttheater – Seine Lust- und Schauspiele“
– Kotzebues „Ansichten und Einsichten“
Gedanken
– Zwischenbemerkung: „August von Kotzebue – Ein Kämpfer gegen die Zeitenwende…“
– Johann Wolfgang Goethes Kotzebue-Verachtung
Wartburgfest-Gedicht
– „Zufälliges Eintreffen einer Prophezeihung”
Erinnerungsblätter für gebildete Leser aus alle Ständen am 18. Apriln 1819
– „Carl Ludwig Sand“
Nachricht
– „Sands letzter Wille“
Anzeige
– August von Kotzebues eigener, von ihm selbst verfasster Nachruf
– Kotzebue-Vermächtnis „Es kann ja nicht immer so bleiben…“
Gedicht
Music
Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)
Impromptu As-Dur (Allegretto) opus posth.142
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)
Deutsche Tänze KV 509
Präludium C-Dur KV 394
Rondo D-Dur (Allegro) KV 485
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827)
Variationen über „Tändeln und Scherzen“ von F.X. Süssmayr WoO 76
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)
Adagio für Glasharmonika KV 356
Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828)
Impromptu B-Dur (Andante) opus posth.142
Antonio Salieri (1750 – 1825)
Sonata C-Dur, 4.Satz (Allegro)
The Kotzebue texts can be found in publications from the years 1780 to 1822 and are on microfilm of the University Library Freiburg i.Br. read.
Urte Lucht
Fotografin: Juliane Fuchs
At the age of four, Urte Lucht began to play the harpsichord. As a teenager, she attended master classes for harpsichord, fortepiano and chamber music with Gustav Leonhardt, Jos van Immerseel and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. After studying in Hamburg, Zurich (with Johann Sonnleitner) and Basel at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (with Jesper Christensen), she began her busy concert career both on the harpsichord and the fortepiano. International prizes, radio, television and CD recordings followed.
Urte Lucht performs at major festivals such as Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, Baroque Festival Arolsen, Days of Old Music Regensburg, Lake Constance Festival, European Weeks Passau, Landshut Court Music Days. She has performed with Maria Cristina Kiehr, Simone Kermes, Constanze Backes, Andrea Bischoff, Stefan Fuchs (Ensemble Trazom), Leila Schayegh and Frieder Bernius. In addition to the historically informed performance practice, Urte Lucht has a keen interest in New Music, as evidenced by several premieres and world premieres, including works by Josef Tals and Erhan Sanris. She is often heard on Swiss radio SRF as a subject matter expert in the program “Disco” and is also co-founder of the Ettenheim Music Summer, the renowned concert series for early music in the baroque town of Ettenheim.
Since 2007 Urte Lucht teaches at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. From 2000 – 2003 she was a lecturer at the International Spring Academy for Early Music in Stift Geras, Austria, and in 2005 taught at the International Summer Courses in Bietigheim Castle.
Dieter E. Neuhaus
image rights: private
Dieter E. Neuhaus worked between 1972 and 1985 at the theaters in Schleswig, Lucerne, Bonn and Freiburg i. Br.. Since then he works as a freelancer. He has directed operas (including “Dido and Aeneas” by Purcell, “Orpheus and Eurydice” by Gluck) and drama projects (including bilingual staging with young actors from France and Germany).
Of particular importance to him are the 25 open-air theater projects, where he often worked with the people of the respective city or region on the occasion of a historic event: i.a. “The Festival Sempach” (Canton of Lucerne / Switzerland – 1986), “The Weiden City Spectacle” (Upper Palatinate – 1992), “The Offenburg Festival of Freedom” (1997), “The Millennium Rush in Brauweiler” (Pulheim – 1999), City – Land – River: Kehl 2010″ and “The Emmendinger 600 Year Market Game ” (2018).
As an actor, he has designed in over 500 appearances in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, radio stations of those respective countries texts by Boccaccio, Grimmelshausen, Hölderlin, Goethe, Hans Christian Andersen and Mark Twain and together with musicians poems of the Baroque, Expressionism, the “Bild” newspaper and “The Ring of the Nibelung by Richard Wagner in 98 minutes”. “Come comfort of the night, o nightingale” is the title of the first joint program with Urte Lucht: music and poetry from the Baroque period.
We’re looking forward to your visit!
Sincerely
Gabriele Paqué
Note on parking!
Parking spots in Bonn-Poppelsdorf, about a 10 minutes walk from the Blücherstraße!
Current exhibition: Otto von Kotzebue
The gallery is open on Saturdays from 2 – 6 pm.
By appointment, the exhibition can also be visited at other times.
Blücherstr. 14, 53115 Bonn
Telefon: 0228-41076755