November 2003 - Nr. 11
Music-Land Germany
– from Telemann to techno –
Germany Celebrates Music with more than 400 Festivals in 2004
Toronto – It’s no surprise that Germany celebrates such native composers as Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms with regular festivals of their music. Ditto Jacques Offenbach, Richard Wagner and Kurt Weill. But an opera about Albert Einstein? In the city of Ulm? A Berlin techno-rave with a million participants? A three-day samba festival in Coburg? Two weeks of dixieland in Dresden? Klezmer fests in Weimar and Nuremberg? A multicultural minstrels’ gathering in Nuremberg, too? An MTV Hip Hop summit in Stuttgart? Europe’s biggest open-air rock concert at the Nürburgring race track?
Those are just a taste of the more than 400 major musical events scheduled for 2004 in the land of Bach and Beethoven.
If you feel an insatiable craving for the harmonies of Abba, there’s even a long-running production of "Mamma Mia" in Hamburg, at the Operettenhaus auf der Reeperbahn.
The masters get their turns, too, of course. The city of Dessau’s Kurt-Weill-Fest, honouring the local lad who wrote both "Mack the Knife" and "September Song," runs from February 27 to March 3. Bayreuth’s annual celebration of Richard Wagner and the Ring Cycle is preceded in 2004 by a festival of Rossini and bel canto music. In July and August, Ansbach’s Bach Weeks and Rococo Festival will bring the city more than 35 special concerts. Leipzig, in the heart of Bach country, celebrates J.S.B. and no one else from May 3 to May 12 and again from May 23 to June 1. And in mid-September, the city of Bonn, Beethoven’s birthplace, throws a three-week international festival in his name, bringing together all sorts of music.
In co-operation with the provinces of Saxony and Bavaria, the GNTO has published a 6-page, 4-colour brochure, called Music-Land Germany, presenting special-interest tours focusing on music in Germany next year. One follows the celebrated Romantic Road, with performances at the Mozart Festival in Würzburg and the Munich Opera. Another, originating in Munich, highlights composer Richard Strauss and his patron, King Ludwig of Bavaria, and includes tickets to the Strauss Festival and a musical play about Ludwig. A craft-oriented itinerary in Saxony includes a concert on the world-famous Silbermann organ in Freiberg and a visit to a traditional instrument-making workshop in Vogtland. Another Saxon tour includes visits to Dresden’s restored Semper Opera House and the setting of Goethe’s Faust, along with the porcelain-making capital of Meissen.
Tours last between five and eight days. For more details on these tours, free copies of Music-Land Germany and for general information on Germany, please contact the German National Tourist Office’s toll-free number 1-877-315-6237, send an e-mail to gntony@aol.com or visit GNTO’s Web site at www.visits-to-germany.com
