A multimedia tribute to the multifaceted Brecht
A large audiovisual performance to commemorate the 50 years since the death of German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) is being staged by Georgia Syllaiou and Sakis Papadimitriou at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall on November 30. Titled «Bertolt Brecht: Everything is Changing,» the production is directed by Akis Kersanidis and brings together music, songs, film screenings, slides and photographs that are designed to send the audience back to the interwar years. Other than the poetry, lyrics and music of Brecht, the production also includes highlights of his collaborations with Kurt Weill («The Threepenny Opera» and «Happy End») and composer Hanns Eisler (selections from «Four Lullabies for the Working Mother,» «Song of the Moldau» and «Ballad for Marie Sanders»), as well as featuring original compositions by Papadimitriou with impromptu improvisation by the members of the performing ensemble. The production also includes a screening of the 1923 silent movie Brecht directed along with Erich Engel, «Mysteries of a Barbershop,» in which Karl Valentin plays an idle, barbarous barber who would rather laze around than tend to his heavily bearded customers. There will be live music accompanying the screening, as well as a showing of extracts from Walter Ruttmann’s documentary «Berlin: Symphony of a Big City.» Syllaiou and Papadimitriou, who have been creating productions inspired by or dedicated to Brecht since 1998, including the album «Pirates’ Ballad,» have, for this show, composed a spectacle of contrasts, where poetry coexists with political commentary and love is entwined with subversiveness. Thessaloniki Concert Hall, Eikostis Pemptis Martiou & Paralia, tel 2310.895.938/939.
