Performing Arts
By Julia-Katharina Neier “No more is that Vienna Which once I called my own. I wander, far, alone, I have to forget.” These lyrics are from the chorus of “No More Is That Vienna,” which was written in New York in 1938 and set to music by the artist and journalist Jimmy Berg. With these…
By Casey J. Hayes So…What comes to mind when you hear the word “Cabaret”? Perhaps…Liza Minelli? Yet, however historically accurate this depiction of the 1920s Weimar Berlin cabaret scene may be (I doubt they had Liza or Bob Fosse,) it was a more reserved cabaret culture that developed within the Austrian capital; more quick conversation,…
By Mona Horncastle “In the end, there is only one race: the human race.” -Josephine Baker When Freda J. McDonald is born in a slum in Saint Louis in 1906, it is unthinkable she will become the first African American superstar to conquer the world as Josephine Baker. The illegitimate daughter of a laundress, her…
with Christiane Tewinkel In this podcast, Dr. Christiane Tewinkel shares many fascinating aspects of her musicology research as related to Theodor Leschetizky and his American students. Born in Galicia in 1830, Theodor Leschetizky, a pianist and composer himself, became internationally famous as a piano teacher with over 1,000 students, including Fanny Bloomfield-Zeisler, Elly Ney, Ignacy…
“Der Traum von einem Feentempel” – “The dream of a fairytale temple“ By Katherine Baber When, on May 25, 2020, the Salzburg Festival announced it would proceed amid the pandemic, it seemed an act of profound optimism—perhaps not unlike Max Reinhardt’s ambition to have a dedicated Festival house, conjured by Hugo von Hofmannstal as a…
“Wie sich doch in einem Augenblick mein ganzes Schicksal wendete!” – “How in a moment my whole fate has changed!” By Katherine Baber Near the end of the first act of Così fan tutte, Dorabella and Fiordiligi are bewildered, mourning the sudden departure of their fiancés for war. They have no idea how much more profoundly…