Foto: Johannes Paqué

Dear friends of music,

On Saturday, 29.08.2020, the first concert since the outbreak of the Corona Pandemic took place again in our premises and we can unanimously confirm with our guests that it couldn’t have been nicer!
Despite the cancellation of the cellist Ira Givol, who unfortunately had to stay in Brussels due to exit restrictions, the singer Simone Hirsch and the pianist Nare Karoyan succeeded in giving an enchantingly beautiful and sensual concert, which was peppered with humorous passages as well as profound melodies. This concert was paired with the coherent performance of Simone Hirsch, who skilfully combined the mood of the pieces and the characters she performed with her acting talent. Away from the classical performance practice for singing, for example, she played just as convincingly a drunkard who sang his or her rising level with rising verse. Or she sang the moritat of the murderer Mackie Messer from the Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht, to whom she breathed both the deviousness and tragedy of such a story. In this context, it is also necessary to point out the outstanding vocal artistry of Simone Hirsch, who knows how to produce a beautiful sound without overstraining the vibrato. This sounds especially wonderful, for example, when she changes her technique from a strong vibrato to a soft, warm and clear sound. These are moments that create goose bumps!

Just as convincing as Simone Hirsch was her song accompaniment Nare Karoyan on the piano, who performed that afternoon on our historic grand piano by Pleyel. She masterfully underscores the singer’s mood with her very sensitive playing, thus maximizing the effect of a piece. Both musicians performed as one unit, which gave the main emphasis to the actual music. Particularly noteworthy is also the “Intermezzo” by Nare Karoyan, who recited Arnold Schönberg’s “Six Little Piano Pieces (Opus 19)” between two very invigorating songs. Anyone who thinks that Schönberg is far too modern a composer for his pieces to have a calming, even meditative mood should definitely listen to the playing of this outstanding pianist. As a former student of Pierre-Laurent Aimard, she is a proven expert in modern music.

We would like to thank the two outstanding musicians and Sabine Krasemann from Liedwelt Rheinland for the organization of this wonderful concert and last but not least, of course, the audience, which was as always highly interested and attentive!

Dear friends of music,

It is time again!! The Musikstudio celebrates the first concert since the outbreak of the Corona Pandemic and this with an exclamation mark, because it is also the finale of the Beethoven exhibition!

In cooperation with Liedwelt Rheinland we organize a song recital around Kurt Weill in the context of the song summer 2020. The concept comes from the singer Simone Hirsch, which you will get introduced to in this interview. About the concert Liedwelt Rheinland writes the following:

A student of Humperdinck and Busoni, who lived as a matter of course between synagogue, beer cellar, Ku’damm and Broadway, who helped shape the Berlin of the 1920s, the Paris of the 1930s and the USA of the 1940s, the composer of Youkali, the place where one could be happy and carefree if it existed.
All this and much more was Kurt Weill. One can imagine that such a dazzling personality was not welcome in the Third Reich…

Please note: A visit to the concert is only possible with a seat reservation! If the concert is already fully booked for one date, we will inform you about it and offer you the other date if necessary. Since the event is associated with increased expenses, the price has been increased by 10,- € to 30,- €.
Masks are mandatory up to the seats!

Saturday, 29th of August 2020

17:00 pm

at
Musikstudio & Galerie: Gabriele Paqué
Blücherstraße 14
53115 Bonn

Program:

Kurt Weill (1900-1950):

Kiddush (a jewish prayer)

Life, love, studies
Berlin im Licht (text: Kurt Weill)
Mackie Messer (text: Bertolt Brecht)
Alabama Song (from: Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny)
September Song (from: Knickerbocker Holiday by Maxwell Anderson)
Speak low (from: One touch of Venus by Ogden Nash)
Je ne t’aime pas (text: Maurice Magre)

Change, New Beginning, America
How can you tell an American (from: Knickerbocker Holiday by Maxwell Anderson)
Lost in the stars (from: Lost in the stars by Maxwell Anderson)
The river is so blue (from: The river is blue by Ann Ronell)
There’ll be life, love and laughter (from: The Firebrand of Florence by Ira Gershwin)

The paradise
Youkali (from: Marie Galante by Roger Fernay)

All works by Kurt Weill!

Admission: 30-€

I’m 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: In honor of Beethoven – A collective exhibition
The gallery is open on saturdays between 14 and 18 pm.
After telephonic agreement the gallery can also be visited at other times.
Blücherstr. 14, 53115 Bonn
Phone: 0228-41076755