Related posts:

1. “Salute to Vienna” concert series returns to the US What a fantastic way to celebrate the New Year! The...
2. Highlights from the Vienna New Year’s Concert 2012 Some Highlights A neat video with great views of Vienna...
3. Impressive 3D animation through Vienna Vienna Airlines Motionride – Full CG 3D Animation Vienna Airlines...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Nothing says Happy Birthday like your friends and loved ones belting out a song. Lately it has become more and more common to sing “Happy Birthday” also in German. Here are some serious and also funky suggestions of songs you could sing instead:
Vocabulary:
Best wishes! Alles Gute!
Congratulations! Herzlichen Glückwunsch!
Congratulations! Ich gratuliere!
Happy Birthday! Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!

The classic “Hoch soll er leben”:
Hoch soll er leben, hoch soll er leben 3x hoch! Hoch! Hoch! Hoch!
Then you can add what ever you seem fit, that the birthday girl/boy should be happy, rich, etc. You can even jokingly ad things they should not be e.g. poor, homeless…

Zum Geburtstag viel Glück:

Zum Geburtstag viel Glück, zum Geburtsag viel Glück, zum Geburtstag liebe (r) put the name here, zum Geburtstag viel Glück.

Wie schön, dass Du geboren bist

Wise Guys – Happy Birthday

Wir ham erfahr’n, dass man heut’ vor sechzig Jahr’n
den Zeitpunkt günstig fand und dich kurzerhand
entband. Seitdem bist du auf der Welt. Schön, dass es
dir hier gefällt. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!
dadadadadada

Wir wünschen Dir, dass lauter nette Leute, ganz
besonders heute ganz in deiner Nähe sind. Und dass
sie dir vielleicht ein Moped schenken, und dass sie an
dich denken, denn du bist das Geburtstagskind.

Wir wünschen dir im neuen Lebensjahr, dass das, was
gut ist, bleibt, so wie es war, und dass alles, was dich
nervt, sich zumindest nicht verschärft
Happy Birthday!

Wir wünschen dir, dass du an jedem Morgen fröhlich
ohne Sorgen, deinen neuen Tag beginnst. Und dass du
zwar höchstwahrscheinlich nie die Fernsehlotterie, aber
manche neue Freundin gewinnst.

Wir wünschen dir im Sommer Sonnenschein, im
Winter soll es ohne Ende schnei’n, solang du,
je nach dem, wie’s ist, passend angezogen bist!
Happy Birthday!

Und dass viele Leute dich besuchen und dir leck’res
Weißbier bringen. Ja, das wär’ uns recht! Wir hoffen,
du sagst: “Heute ist ein Tag ganz genau, wie ich ihn
mag – Geburtstag haben ist nicht schlecht!”

Und dass du auch in Zukunft ganz ohne Beschwerden
Freude hast am gepflegten Älterwerden.
Also, kurz gesagt – und darum sind wir hier – :
Wir gratulieren dir!

Margot und Maria Geburtstagsyodler:

Ich bring Dir zum Geburtstag einen Jodler als Geschenk.
Der Jodler soll Dir sagen dass ich immer an Dich denk’
Rosen Tulpen, Nelken, alle Blumen welken, Stahl und Eisen bricht, doch meine Liebe nicht.
Ich bring Dir zum Geburtstag einen Jodler und ich wünschte mit Musik, Gesundheit, langes Leben und viel Glück! Viel Glück!

Ein Geburtstag in den Bergen ist ein ganz besonderer Fall, denn da spielen die Musikanten auf der Alm und drunten im Tal.
Ja, da feiern wir Geburtstag wie es ein jeder bei uns tut. Mit einem Enzian im Glasl und einem Enzian am Hut.

Zum Geburtstag Viel Glück – slow version

Zum Geburtstag viel Glück – superfast dwarf version

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag

Kapella Petra – funky birthday Song:

And in case you live in Wonderland or create your own wonderland “Alles Gute zum Nichtgeburtstag!”

Related posts:

1. Udo Jürgens Alles ist so easy “Alles ist so Easy” von Udo Jürgens Album: Der ganz...
2. Lass Dich überraschen Motto for the day: Lass Dich überraschen, schon kann es...
3. Happy Birthday Einstein March 14th marks Pi-Day – Pi, Greek letter (), is...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The German-Czech Max Brod Trio debuts in North America next month with a sold-out tour covering six Eastern states, including concerts on major chamber music series in Augusta, GA, Cleveland and Dayton,OH, and Charleston, WV. Czech violinist Petr Mateják (formerly of the Martinu String Quartet) joins pianist Kerstin Straßburg and cellist Maximilian von Pfeil*, both Berlin-based.
Their varied programs include works of Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Debussy and Shostakovich, as well as an all-Czech selection of Smetana, Martinu, and Dvorák.
For a complete tour schedule see: Max Brod Trio tour itinerary. The tour was arranged by Raymond Weiss Artist Management of New York.
The Trio’s name honors Max Brod, the renowned Czech writer/composer and noted biographer/friend of Franz Kafka, whose work combined German, Czech, and Jewish influences. The Max Brod Trio symbolizes the process of unification in Europe, and was formed in response to an initiative of the European Union in support of intercultural concerts in 2005
The Trio released its second CD recording earlier this year, an exciting all-Schubert disc on the Audiomax label, including the magnificent Trio No. 1 in B-flat, D.898 and the sublime Notturno, D. 897, both composed in 1827.
The Max Brod Trio’s first recording of Dvorák and Beethoven received outstanding critical acclaim; “Great musicians with innate cohesion and sheer expertise . . . Their love of and sheer fun in music making is outstanding” wrote MusicWeb International.

Since incorporating in 1973, Raymond Weiss Artist Management has arranged nearly 150 tours of ensembles from abroad, including chamber music groups, chamber orchestras, and full symphonic orchestras. Many have appeared for the first time in North America, including the Kodály String Quartet, the Czech Trio, and the José White Quartet. Artists have hailed from countries including England, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Finland, the former Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, and Cuba/Mexico.
*his full name is actually: Maximilian Johannes Friedrich Carl Graf von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth!

Related posts:

1. Concert at “An die Musik live” with Colin Vallon Trio in Baltimore The music of the Collin Vallon Trio belongs among the...
2. NY: Olga Neuwirth Portrait Concert – Talea Ensemble On June 24th at 8 PM the Austrian Cultural Forum...
3. NY: Max Weber Conference at Deutsches Haus NYU Deutsches Haus at New York University presents the Max Weber...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Although the term “Wunderkind” should not be used lightly, it came immediately to mind when I heard a violin performance by Kevin Schwarzwald, a 17-year old Austrian musician, who joined his father, award-winning composer, saxophone player and music producer Reinhold Schwarzwald, on stage at the House of Blues in Hollywood for a jazz concert. Kevin, who has studied classical violin and piano since childhood, was completely at ease with the other five accomplished musicians and demonstrated an astonishing versatility and high proficiency in his playing. Kevin also has a passion for composing, as his father, a native of Gmunden, told me. One of his latest works, a six-minute composition for symphony orchestra entitled “EPOS” was premiered by the Jr. Philharmonic Orchestra in Los Angeles, last December.

Kevin Schwarzwald Performing Live with Country Music Star Keith Urban

This summer Kevin received a full scholarship to participate in the Grammy Camp organized by the Grammy Foundation every year for young emerging talents from across the nation. As a result of Kevin’s work at Grammy Camp, he was called back a few days later to perform a song with Country Music superstar Keith Urban in front of an audience of 6000 at a UCLA concert benefiting the Grammy Foundation. Kevin has already appeared on TV, and his credits include performances at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Shrine Auditorium, and the Walt Disney Concert Hall, as a member of the Junior Philharmonic.

As a senior at the Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, Kevin leads and arranges for a seven-piece jazz combo, and plays first violin in the school’s symphony orchestra. He makes a handsome duo with his father, Reinhold Schwarzwald who won the International Song Expo Award for his soul jazz ballad “All Your Love” and gained much acclaim for his solo album “Sunset.” They are currently working on a variety of programs especially arranged for Austrian-American events.

Related posts:

1. Vienna Philharmonic plays two Emperor Marches We are used to hearing the legendary Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,...
2. CA: Improvisatory Minds – Chamber Music by Jazz Musicians Cool Change Composers Collective presents ‘Improvisatory Minds – Chamber Music...
3. CA: Concert with Austrian Soprano Monica Schober � The United Methodist Church presents� the Austrian Soprano...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Now the band announced on their website u2.com that they are coming back.

The famous singer announced: “I’m ready, rebuilt by German engineering. Better design, I’m told.”

Bono elaborates: “I’m very well. I can sit. I can stand. I can move around a bit. Feeling strong, feeling confident, know what I’m saying?
I actually wanted to apologize for the trouble that this injury has put you all through and those of you that bought tickets and organized hotels and travel plans, it’s a very big deal…we don’t take you for granted. It was not a lot of fun for me, the injury was quite serious.”

Related posts:

1. Fast and Furious made in America powered by German engineering The “Fast & Furious” films stand for plenty of...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

By David Ng for Los Angeles Times

Look, up in the sky! In case you haven’t noticed already, our entertainment stratosphere has grown crowded with muscle-bound superheroes in almost every conceivable shape and size: the franchise-rebooted likes of Spider-Man and Superman, battle-armored warriors such as Robin Hood and Perseus.

To whom do we owe our super-saturated superhero culture?

It would be easy to lay all of the credit (or blame) at the feet of comic-book artists and Hollywood executives. But superhero roots go much deeper than that, and if you excavate long enough, you will inevitably bump smack into Richard Wagner, the 19th century composer whose four- opera cycle “The Ring of the Nibelung” is regarded by many as an important genetic mother ship for today’s fleet of action heroes.

In terms of its cast of characters alone, Wagner’s “Ring” tetralogy has fanboy potential written all over it. The complex saga stars maidens, angry gods, female warriors, a temperamental dragon and an angsty teen hero whose powers get him into a lot of trouble.

Holy Siegfried!

The comic-book artist P. Craig Russell sees the “Ring” as a crucial evolutionary step in the development of superheroes as we know them today. “I think it’s a continuum — from Ulysses to Wotan to Superman,” he said by phone from his home in Ohio.

Russell, whose recent credits include “Hellboy” and “Coraline,” penned his own comic-book version of the “Ring,” a two-volume series published in 2002 by Dark Horse Comics that he considers the most personal project of his career. An opera fan, he has even spoken to gatherings of so-called Ring Nuts, extreme fans of the “Ring” cycle. “It’s almost like going to a comic book convention — you see the same faces,” he said.

Los Angeles Opera is producing the complete “Ring” for the first time beginning in May. Although this avant-garde staging isn’t for neophytes, its emphasis on spectacle and visual effects (light sabers play an important role) could make it the ideal “Ring” for superhero geeks.

Even those who have never experienced Wagner’s epic should have little trouble recognizing the names of some of its chief protagonists such as Wotan and Brünnhilde and her fellow Valkyries. That’s partly because Wagner himself borrowed from a number of well-known myths and legends — the 12th century Germanic poem the “Nibelungenlied” was his primary source. But it’s also because pop culture has taken Wagner’s creations over the years and liberally repurposed them into a multitude of hit incarnations.

Perhaps the most popular of the “Ring” characters are the Valkyries — the airborne female warriors of the cycle’s second opera, “Die Walküre,” who carry slain soldiers from the battlefields to their final resting places in Valhalla.

Marvel Comics created a character in 1970 named Valkyrie who continues to resurface in various forms in the company’s many franchises. Tall, blond and muscular, she is the essence of contemporary female empowerment.

She first appeared in “The Avengers” and has subsequently popped up — sometimes using the name Brünnhilde, sometimes in the form of a modern woman known as Samantha Parrington — in issues of ” The Incredible Hulk,” “The Defenders” and others.

Comic-book experts say that Brünnhilde and her fellow Valkyries have influenced the recent flourishing of on-screen female action heroes whose soft-butch exteriors hide an emotionally vulnerable core.

On TV, the most recognizable offspring of Wagner’s Valkyries was the title character in the cult series “Xena: Warrior Princess.” In the sixth and final season, which aired in 2000-2001, viewers learned that Xena ( Lucy Lawless) was once an evil Valkyrie who presided over a reign of terror in the show’s pan-mythological universe.

The season featured three episodes inspired by the “Ring.” In one, Xena takes a Sapphic swim with the Rhine Maidens — a nod to the opening of “Das Rheingold,” the first opera in Wagner’s cycle.

Strains of Valkyrie DNA can also be found in page-to-screen heroines such as “X-Men’s” Jean Grey, who shares Brünnhilde’s suicidal tendencies, and the title character of “Elektra,” who experiences a Brünnhildian resurrection from a death-like state.

Ralph Macchio, a longtime writer and editor at Marvel, said mythological characters such as Wagner’s “have the angst and sense of absurdity and alienation that speak to a current reader. It’s all about wish fulfillment and hero worship,” he said, speaking from Marvel’s New York office. “That’s why they have lasted so long.”

Read on at LA Times.com

Related posts:

1. CA: Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen at the San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera presents Richard Wagner’s epic four-opera cycle, Der...
2. IL: Maifest Celebration in Lakeview with Johnny Wagner Band � Celebrate May dancing around the Maypole and enjoy great...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Austrian composer Edwin Wendler delivered an exciting, action-packed score of epic proportions, perfectly accompanying the stunning visuals created by David Weinstein and his team of CG animators. As a Vienna Choir Boy, Edwin Wendler toured Europe, the United States, Canada, and Southeast Asia from 1986 to 1989, singing in hundreds of concerts and dozens of opera performances.

Download the Soundtrack for free on the artists’ website.  It includes a suite of alternate versions and a 6-page digital booklet featuring an interview with composer Edwin Wendler.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

NNkeka, born to a Nigerian father and a German mother and managed by Neverland Music & Martin Schuhmacher has a new album coming out.

Concrete Jungle is her third album, but her first US release. Her first US release, Concrete Jungle is a collection of songs that put the singer/songwriter at the forefront. Every year since her musical career took off in 2005, this Afro-German warrior princess has built on her successes, stretched her muscles, and widened her range. Her debut album Victim of Truth (released in the UK in 2007), an inspirational mix of hot loops, black consciousness and 21st-century soul music – was garlanded with praise by the British media. ‘As good as The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,’ said UK’s The Sunday Times.

Nneka Egbuna was born in Warri, Oil City in the Delta region of Nigeria at the height of its new found wealth in the mid 70s.
For nineteen years she soaked up the sounds and rhythms of one of the most musical nations on the planet, a country where expressing yourself through song is just a part of everyday life, a country that has music in its very DNA, where the influence of giants like Afrobeat revolutionary Fela Kuti is never far away.

But at the age of 19 this modest and hard-working young girl made the big decision to leave behind the African way of life. To further her education, she moved not just to Europe but to Northern Europe, to the industrial seaport of Hamburg in Germany. For the young Nneka, it was a dramatic change, and there remains an intangible quality in her voice that speaks of being a long, long way from home.
“The cultural differences between Germany and Nigeria were extreme,” she says. “The way they dress, the way they carry themselves, their religion. So many things that were important to me are not important to them. For two years I was overwhelmed.”
For all its innate musicality, Nigerian culture perhaps prizes education higher than any other achievement, and while Nneka was making her first demos and beginning to make waves as a performer, she was determined not to waste the stack of A-levels that she already had under her belt. Enrolled at Hamburg University, she continued to study for a degree in anthropology – no mean feat when you’re in demand at clubs and festivals from Paris to Lisbon, from Vienna to Madrid.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Max Steiner, the pioneering film composer who wrote the music for “King Kong” and “Gone With the Wind,” was once complimented as the man who invented modern movie music.

“Nonsense,” he replied. “The idea originated with Richard Wagner. Listen to the incidental scoring behind the recitatives in his operas. If Wagner had lived in this century, he would have been the No. 1 film composer.”

That last point is debatable. (Try to imagine Wagner working for Harvey Weinstein.) But Wagner’s influence on film-music history certainly has been enormous, “probably more than any other single composer,” says Roger Hickman, professor of music at California State University Long Beach and author of “Reel Music: Exploring 100 Years of Film Music.” Read more at LA Times.com

Related posts:

1. IL: Maifest Celebration in Lakeview with Johnny Wagner Band � Celebrate May dancing around the Maypole and enjoy great...
2. CA: Improvisatory Minds – Chamber Music by Jazz Musicians Cool Change Composers Collective presents ‘Improvisatory Minds – Chamber Music...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Arizona Lady

Chicago Folks Operetta, with its rich tradition of premiering rarely heard operettas, is delighted to present the American premiere of Arizona Lady, the last operetta written by the great Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán. This romantic operetta will take you back to the rough-and-tumble, happy-go-lucky wild west of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. It tells the story of a tough but lonely ranch owner Lona Farrell, her horse, Arizona Lady, and their encounter with a strong-willed singing cowboy. The show evokes the spirit and sounds of the classic western movies, spiced with the exotic flavorings of Kálmán’s rich, lilting Hungarian melodies. Arizona Lady will feature some of the Chicago area’s finest opera singers, instrumentalists, and dancers. This wonderful cast is matched only by our experienced production staff, which includes director Bill Walters (Directing staff at Lyric Opera of Chicago), choreographer August Tye (Ballet Mistress and Choreographer at LOC), and lighting designer Michael Smallwood (Assistant technical director at LOC). This American premiere has a new translation by Hersh Glagov and Gerald Frantzen who also brought us the translations to the rare operetta gems Cloclo, Mitislav the Modern, Peter and Paul in the Land of Nod, Springtime and The Girl in the Train.

Arizona Lady was the last operetta Emmerich Kálmán wrote before his death in 1953. He wrote it with his longtime writing partner Alfred Grünwald as an homage to his adopted homeland. It was the first operetta they had written together since 1932. Kálmán, who had suffered a stroke in 1952, completed the orchestration of the score with Wolfgang Freebe in 1953 from his hospital bed in Austria. Lyrics were written by fellow Hungarian, Gustave Beer. The first performance of the operetta was a radio broadcast with the Munich Radio Orchestra in January 1954, six months after Kálmán’s death. A month later the stage premiere was given in Bern, Switzerland. There have only been two other productions of the operetta ever given; both in the mid 1950’s in Germany. Chicago Folks Operetta will not only be giving the operetta its American premiere but also will be the first performance of the piece in over a half-century.

This song was the first one from a B-western to be nominated for an Oscar in its first appearance in UNDER WESTERN STARS.
“Dust” was recorded by Roy Rogers as a Vocalion single in March of 1938. Nine years later, he sang the song again, this time accompanied by the Sons of the Pioneers.

The operetta will be performed in English, fully staged with a small orchestra. Performances will take place on July 17, July 22-24, July 29-31 at 7:30 pm with matinée performances July 18, July 24-25, July 31 and August 1 at 2 pm.

Chicago Folks Operetta is a non-profit theater company devoted to the nurturing of live operetta through articulate and dynamic productions. In the belief that the arts serve to illuminate the human condition, we are dedicated to the revival and development of operetta, a popular and accessible form of music and theater for general audiences. In particular, the CFO concentrates on producing both Viennese and American operettas from the early 20th century.

The company was founded in 2006 by the husband and wife team of Gerald Frantzen and Alison Kelly. Both are accomplished stage performers with wide-ranging credits including performances with Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Sarasota Opera, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago in additional to leading roles in The Phantom of the Opera. While living in Germany, the pair developed a love and appreciation for the cultural experience of the operetta genre, and is committed to bringing this same experience to North America.

Tickets are $30 for adults/$25 for seniors and groups of 10 or more, and are available for purchase at www.chicagofolksoperetta.org or by calling the box office at 773-327-5252. All performances will take place in the North Theater at The Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 W. Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL.

Related posts:

1. Chicago Hamburg Business Forum 2011 Green Technology: Cooperation Perspectives for the US Midwest Regionand Northern...
2. Vienna Philharmonic plays two Emperor Marches We are used to hearing the legendary Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.