What's on in Germany: August 30 – September 5
This Week's Highlights: Classical music in Berlin, Indian dance in Munich, and a mediaeval festival stomps through Hamburg.
BERLIN
Music/Concerts
Berlin Music Festival
This week, acclaimed orchestras from around the world gather in Berlin to kick off this annual festival of classical music. The Mahler Chamber Orchestra plays Charles Ives at the opening concert Friday, The St. Louis Symphony traverses Beethoven and Gershwin Wednesday, and the London Symphony Orchestra plays a program of Copland, Feldman, and Ives on Thursday. Get swept up in the music.
Price: Various
Location: Various
Times: Friday, August 31 – Tuesday, September 18
More Information: www.berlinerfestspiele.de
Galleries/Museums
Between Walls and Windows – Architecture and Ideology
Ever been to the “Pregnant Oyster?” You know, America's gift to West Germany more formally known as the House of World Cultures. Starting Saturday, a new exhibition in the 1950s congress hall presents ten site-specific works by an international set of artists. Check out the opening this weekend and get a new perspective on the notion of architecture.
Price: Free
Location: Haus der Kulturen der Welt
, John-Foster-Dulles Allee 10
Times: Saturday, September 1, 4-10pm (Opening); Daily, 10am-7pm; through September 30
More Information: www.hkw.de
Wael Shawky. Al Araba Al Madfuna
Historical events from the Arab world get restaged in the artworks of Egyptian artist Wael Shawky. Tiny sets reshaped offer one perspective on real-life situations, provoking us to rethink the impact of different social and political systems. Intrigued? Stop in at KW in Berlin this week.
Price: €6
Location: KW Institute for Contemporary Art,
Auguststrasse 69
Phone: 030 243 4590
Times: Tuesday – Sunday, Noon-7pm; Thurday, Noon-9pm; through October 21
More Information: www.kw-berlin.de
BREMEN
Music/Concerts
Bremen Music Festival – A Grand Night of Music Opening Concert
The Bremen Music Festival begins Saturday with “A Grand Night of Music.” Twenty-four concerts take place in eight different venues, all spectacularly illuminated in honour of the special event. With performances beginning at 7:30pm, 9pm, and 10:30pm, the evening offers a three-part musical journey around beautiful Bremen. Don't miss the Brussels Jazz Orchestra's new take on Gershwin's “Porgy and Bess.”
Price: €66
Location: Various
Times: Saturday, September 1, 7:30pm, 9pm, 10:30pm
Ticket Hotline: 0421 33 66 99
More Information: www.musikfest-bremen.de
COLOGNE
Galleries/Museums
Architecture Photography – Made in China
Every city's got its own style. New York goes sky high on a grid. Paris follows Haussmann's vision of gracious six-story structures lining grand boulevards. How about China's cities? China's economy is booming and the massive country's cities are growing faster than ever. See photographs of architecture from around China at a new exhibition starting Saturday at the Museum of Applied Arts in Cologne.
Price: €9
Location: Museum fur Angewandte Kunst Koln, An der Rechtschule
Times: Tuesday – Sunday, 11am-5pm; Saturday, September 1 – November 25
Phone: 0221 221 267 14
More Information: www.museenkoeln.de
1912 – Modern Mission: The Centennial Retrospective of the Sonderbund Exhibition
Cézanne, Gauguin, Munch, Picasso, Van Gogh... One hundred years ago works by these masters and more were all on display at a grand group exhibition in Cologne called the “Sonderbund Exhibition.” In honour of the 100th anniversary of that marvelous moment, the Wallraf Museum has done a remarkable thing. They've brought together one hundred works from that very show. Go and see the sensational collection of European modernist masterpieces when they go on view Friday in Cologne.
Price: €8
Location: Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Obenmarspforten
Times: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am-6pm; Thursday, 10am-9pm; Friday, August 31 – December 30
Phone: 0221 221 21119
More Information: www.wallraf.museum
DÜSSELDORF
Sales
Wende Art Interior Sale
Here's your chance to pick up a real treasure for your new apartment. Specializing in Art Deco and Bauhaus design, Wende Art Interior is having a sale at their Stilwerk showroom this week. Even if you're not really in the market for a Marcel Breuer-inspired armchair, the sale is still a great chance to get a close-up look at some ravishing pieces. Just try not to drool too much on all that bent steel and lacquer. Stilwerk is full of great design shops. Make an afternoon of it.
Price: Free
Location: Wende im Stilwerk, Galerie für Einrichtungskonzepte, Grünstrasse 15
Times: Monday – Friday, 10am-7pm; Saturday, 10am-6pm; through Saturday, September 8
Phone: 0211 13 06 87 74
More Information: www.stilwerk.at
HAMBURG
Events
Mediaeval Fantasy Spectacle
Those glorious Middle Ages are still alive and well within the raging hearts of bands like Faun, Metusa, and The Dolmen. Don your hooded cloaks and raise your mug of mead to these guys and more epic musical acts at the Mediaeval Fantasy Spectacle in Hamburg this weekend. And lest you thought this was an event only for the grown ups, Kiepenkasper's puppet theatre, the Witch Roxana, and a children's joust offer loads of Middle Ages fun for the whole family.
Price: €10-20 (Day Pass); €25 (2-Day Pass)
Location: Hamburg Öjendorf
Times: Saturday, September 1, 11am-12:30am; Sunday, September 2, 11am-7:30pm
More Information: www.spectaculum.de
Music/Concerts
Birdy
If you don't know her from her eponymous debut album, you might have heard her tune “Just a Game” on The Hunger Games soundtrack. At just 16-years-old, the British singer croons about love and heartache with the profundity of a lovesick teenager. And we all know how passionate they can be. Though Birdy delivers her tunes with a plaintive tenderness that's worth witnessing live. See the young chanteuse Monday in Hamburg.
Price: €25.80
Location: Fliegende Bauten, Glacischaussee 4
Tickets: 040 881 411 880
Times: Monday, September 3, 8pm
More Information: www.fliegende-bauten.de
MUNICH
Galleries/Museums
Karl Blossfeldt
and the Language of Plants
Nature in its purest form is pure beauty. There's no denying the stark, stunning grace of Karl Blossfeldt's photographs. Devoted to photographing botanical specimens, the German photographer exalted the natural design of plants, flowers, leaves, stems, and buds. He published books in the late 1920s and early 1930s that made him famous. On Friday, the Pinakothek der Moderne unveils its new collection of seventy-five of Blossfeldt's photographs. Go and see how fiddleheads unfurl, thistle stretches, and Balkan yarrow blooms.
Price: €10
Location: Pinakothek der Moderne,
Barer Strasse 40
Times: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am-6pm; Thursday, 10am-8pm;
Tickets: 089 23805 360
More Information: www.pinakothek.de
Dance
Days of India - Sharmistha Mukherjee and Ensemble
The word “Kathak” is derived from the Sanskrit word for “story,” and to watch an ensemble of dancers performing the poetic movements of Kathak dance feels like you're being let in on an ancient secret. On Friday, the classical Indian dancer Sharmistha Mukherjee and her ensemble perform the Kathak dance of “The Ancient Goddesses.” Succumb to the graceful narrative.
Price: €25 – 49
Location: Theater Gut Nederling, Nederlinger Strasse 78
Times: Friday, August 31, 8pm
Tickets: 089 89 220 502
More Information: www.gut-nederling.de
Comments
See Also
BERLIN
Music/Concerts
Berlin Music Festival
This week, acclaimed orchestras from around the world gather in Berlin to kick off this annual festival of classical music. The Mahler Chamber Orchestra plays Charles Ives at the opening concert Friday, The St. Louis Symphony traverses Beethoven and Gershwin Wednesday, and the London Symphony Orchestra plays a program of Copland, Feldman, and Ives on Thursday. Get swept up in the music.
Price: Various
Location: Various
Times: Friday, August 31 – Tuesday, September 18
More Information: www.berlinerfestspiele.de
Galleries/Museums
Between Walls and Windows – Architecture and Ideology
Ever been to the “Pregnant Oyster?” You know, America's gift to West Germany more formally known as the House of World Cultures. Starting Saturday, a new exhibition in the 1950s congress hall presents ten site-specific works by an international set of artists. Check out the opening this weekend and get a new perspective on the notion of architecture.
Price: Free
Location: Haus der Kulturen der Welt , John-Foster-Dulles Allee 10
Times: Saturday, September 1, 4-10pm (Opening); Daily, 10am-7pm; through September 30
More Information: www.hkw.de
Wael Shawky. Al Araba Al Madfuna
Historical events from the Arab world get restaged in the artworks of Egyptian artist Wael Shawky. Tiny sets reshaped offer one perspective on real-life situations, provoking us to rethink the impact of different social and political systems. Intrigued? Stop in at KW in Berlin this week.
Price: €6
Location: KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Auguststrasse 69
Phone: 030 243 4590
Times: Tuesday – Sunday, Noon-7pm; Thurday, Noon-9pm; through October 21
More Information: www.kw-berlin.de
BREMEN
Music/Concerts
Bremen Music Festival – A Grand Night of Music Opening Concert
The Bremen Music Festival begins Saturday with “A Grand Night of Music.” Twenty-four concerts take place in eight different venues, all spectacularly illuminated in honour of the special event. With performances beginning at 7:30pm, 9pm, and 10:30pm, the evening offers a three-part musical journey around beautiful Bremen. Don't miss the Brussels Jazz Orchestra's new take on Gershwin's “Porgy and Bess.”
Price: €66
Location: Various
Times: Saturday, September 1, 7:30pm, 9pm, 10:30pm
Ticket Hotline: 0421 33 66 99
More Information: www.musikfest-bremen.de
COLOGNE
Galleries/Museums
Architecture Photography – Made in China
Every city's got its own style. New York goes sky high on a grid. Paris follows Haussmann's vision of gracious six-story structures lining grand boulevards. How about China's cities? China's economy is booming and the massive country's cities are growing faster than ever. See photographs of architecture from around China at a new exhibition starting Saturday at the Museum of Applied Arts in Cologne.
Price: €9
Location: Museum fur Angewandte Kunst Koln, An der Rechtschule
Times: Tuesday – Sunday, 11am-5pm; Saturday, September 1 – November 25
Phone: 0221 221 267 14
More Information: www.museenkoeln.de
1912 – Modern Mission: The Centennial Retrospective of the Sonderbund Exhibition
Cézanne, Gauguin, Munch, Picasso, Van Gogh... One hundred years ago works by these masters and more were all on display at a grand group exhibition in Cologne called the “Sonderbund Exhibition.” In honour of the 100th anniversary of that marvelous moment, the Wallraf Museum has done a remarkable thing. They've brought together one hundred works from that very show. Go and see the sensational collection of European modernist masterpieces when they go on view Friday in Cologne.
Price: €8
Location: Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Obenmarspforten
Times: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am-6pm; Thursday, 10am-9pm; Friday, August 31 – December 30
Phone: 0221 221 21119
More Information: www.wallraf.museum
DÜSSELDORF
Sales
Wende Art Interior Sale
Here's your chance to pick up a real treasure for your new apartment. Specializing in Art Deco and Bauhaus design, Wende Art Interior is having a sale at their Stilwerk showroom this week. Even if you're not really in the market for a Marcel Breuer-inspired armchair, the sale is still a great chance to get a close-up look at some ravishing pieces. Just try not to drool too much on all that bent steel and lacquer. Stilwerk is full of great design shops. Make an afternoon of it.
Price: Free
Location: Wende im Stilwerk, Galerie für Einrichtungskonzepte, Grünstrasse 15
Times: Monday – Friday, 10am-7pm; Saturday, 10am-6pm; through Saturday, September 8
Phone: 0211 13 06 87 74
More Information: www.stilwerk.at
HAMBURG
Events
Mediaeval Fantasy Spectacle
Those glorious Middle Ages are still alive and well within the raging hearts of bands like Faun, Metusa, and The Dolmen. Don your hooded cloaks and raise your mug of mead to these guys and more epic musical acts at the Mediaeval Fantasy Spectacle in Hamburg this weekend. And lest you thought this was an event only for the grown ups, Kiepenkasper's puppet theatre, the Witch Roxana, and a children's joust offer loads of Middle Ages fun for the whole family.
Price: €10-20 (Day Pass); €25 (2-Day Pass)
Location: Hamburg Öjendorf
Times: Saturday, September 1, 11am-12:30am; Sunday, September 2, 11am-7:30pm
More Information: www.spectaculum.de
Music/Concerts
Birdy
If you don't know her from her eponymous debut album, you might have heard her tune “Just a Game” on The Hunger Games soundtrack. At just 16-years-old, the British singer croons about love and heartache with the profundity of a lovesick teenager. And we all know how passionate they can be. Though Birdy delivers her tunes with a plaintive tenderness that's worth witnessing live. See the young chanteuse Monday in Hamburg.
Price: €25.80
Location: Fliegende Bauten, Glacischaussee 4
Tickets: 040 881 411 880
Times: Monday, September 3, 8pm
More Information: www.fliegende-bauten.de
MUNICH
Galleries/Museums
Karl Blossfeldt and the Language of Plants
Nature in its purest form is pure beauty. There's no denying the stark, stunning grace of Karl Blossfeldt's photographs. Devoted to photographing botanical specimens, the German photographer exalted the natural design of plants, flowers, leaves, stems, and buds. He published books in the late 1920s and early 1930s that made him famous. On Friday, the Pinakothek der Moderne unveils its new collection of seventy-five of Blossfeldt's photographs. Go and see how fiddleheads unfurl, thistle stretches, and Balkan yarrow blooms.
Price: €10
Location: Pinakothek der Moderne, Barer Strasse 40
Times: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am-6pm; Thursday, 10am-8pm;
Tickets: 089 23805 360
More Information: www.pinakothek.de
Dance
Days of India - Sharmistha Mukherjee and Ensemble
The word “Kathak” is derived from the Sanskrit word for “story,” and to watch an ensemble of dancers performing the poetic movements of Kathak dance feels like you're being let in on an ancient secret. On Friday, the classical Indian dancer Sharmistha Mukherjee and her ensemble perform the Kathak dance of “The Ancient Goddesses.” Succumb to the graceful narrative.
Price: €25 – 49
Location: Theater Gut Nederling, Nederlinger Strasse 78
Times: Friday, August 31, 8pm
Tickets: 089 89 220 502
More Information: www.gut-nederling.de
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