With a carefully chosen selection of large-format works, the Berlin artist Uli Fischer travelled to Kempten to curate his solo exhibition at the Stadtstadel and to open it together with the Stadtstadel team. The evening was all about Asia and especially Japan as many of the historical textiles used in his pictorial objects come from Japan and China. Uli Fischer impressively explained to the invited guests his career in art as well as in the gallery business, his times in the theatre and even in film, which were important stages of life in developing the unique way of painting with textiles. He treats the old fabrics collected worldwide like the color palette in painting, laying layer upon layer, in the style of the color layer painting of old masters. The exhibition also shows some of his most recent works. They are paint layer paintings with a textile effect. He cannot and does not want to deny his artistic origins from the Bauhaus period as well as concrete art. And in the end, he always remains true to painting. Larissa Richter, pianist and composer from Munich, took Japan as the central theme of her selection of work. She thrilled the audience with a piece from “Madam Butterfly” by Giacomo Puccini, plucked in the old Japanese way, and the piece “An Evening in the Country” by Bela Bartok. She also presented works by Japanese composers such as the “Kagome Variation” by Kiyoshige Koyama and “Haro no Umi” by Michio Miyaghi, whose sheets of music she had received directly from Japan. In addition, she delighted with traditional songs, old compositions and contemporary works such as "Howsl's Moving Castle" by Joe Hisaishi. Rounded off to perfection, the guests enjoyed Asian delicacies, masterfully served. What a prelude to this special exhibition "Multi-layered like life, concretely structured".
Images: Nathalie Dennenmoser
With two special plays in their luggage, the Weite Theater Berlin travelled to Kempten again to immerse the small stage of the Stadtstadel in the bright splendor of the theatre world. Christine Müller and Martin Karl philosophized about love in a broader sense in the play "Love is not for cowards" and combined seemingly contradictory things in a sonorous way: the love between us humans with the love of folk song, narrated very lightly with love to fairy tales. So much love, it makes you dizzy and simply thrilled all the guests. Simply out of love for theatre and its idiosyncratic characters – the tall puppets in the roles of the princess, the father and King Thrushbeard.
The adventures of Jorinde and Joringel enchanted children and parents alike. Playfully told with very small puppets and the animals of the forest, the narrator Christine Müller led through the depths of the fairy tale in changing roles. With its graceful play of light, the piece opened up a lot of space for many images in the mind. It could be that many children's rooms turn into a large forest with a bewitched castle and the story is recreated with its own characters. There are just no limits to children’s imagination.
Images: Birgit Kastner-Simon, Kai Siebdrath, Bernhard Simon
Silent films transport us into a unique and flickering world: the world of the first film with images in black and white and actors with great gestures and strong facial expressions, but still silent. Her camera angles capture what fascinated artists and audiences at the time - technology, architecture, people in all their diversity. The films equally showed comedy and reality. They documented current events and wrote flourishing stories. What is it about silent film that excites us, the moviegoers spoiled by technology and effects? Together with Murat Parlak, who applied his imagination and musical empathy to set the documentary film "Berlin - the Symphony of a Big City" by Walter Ruttmann from 1927 to music on the grand piano in a new composition, the guests of the Stadtstadel experienced urban life in Berlin in the 1920s in five chapters - an exciting trip of the time of our grandparents, for some, even great-grandparents. At the same time, the film shows the diversity of the metropolis across all levels of society, their professions, the poverty and the wealth of the city. With interesting editing, fast image and scene changes, the documentary film becomes an exciting day trip that begins early in the morning and ends with the nightly hustle and bustle of the glittering city. The eye and ear were highly challenged, especially for the pianist and composer Murat Parlak, whose composition only filled a post-it sheet as the basis for 90 minutes of "great cinema".
Images: Bernhard Simon
At some point, the last day comes and it's time to say goodbye. This is also the case with the wonderful exhibition "The fascination of form. Sculpture, Plastic, Drawing" by the artist Mechthild Ehmann. This special exhibition of her unique sculptures made of glass, her expressive bronze sculptures and the realistic nude drawings attracted many visitors from all over the south. Larissa Richter, pianist and composer from Munich, took up this diversity of art in a unique concert evening to which she invited her music colleague Dorothee Binding, professor of flute.
Together they revealed to the audience the beauty and the changes already apparent in music towards the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. With the choice of seven composers from Paris, the pieces by Paul Taffanel, Claude Debussy, Camille Saint-Saens, Gabriel Faure, Philippe Gaubert, Benjamin Godard and François Borne represented the tremendous upheaval in both art and music. They were all contemporary witnesses of the change in the visual arts, the move away from the depiction of the real world towards abstraction and reduction. The finely selected pieces allowed piano and flute to enter into a melodious symbiosis that transported the Stadtstadel and the audience back to Paris at the turn of the century. L'art et la France - par excellence.
Images: Bernhard Simon
His hands flew over the keyboard, his fingers barely touched the keys and yet the room was filled with the all-encompassing sound of his Fingerplay. What the ear took in could no longer be grasped with the eyes, even if one or two guests chose to sit right next to the him. Murat Parlak at his best. He thrilled the guests in equal measure - be it jazz lovers or classical music enthusiasts. A wonderful fusion of well-known pieces, melodies or even just individual chords with his own compositions repeatedly found their way into the variety of improvisation. The highlight of the evening was the impromptu performance of excerpts from Ludwig van Beethoven's 9th Symphony. In the spirit of the classical master, who was convinced that the constant repetition of the same notes and absolute faithfulness to the original would lead to boredom and erosion, Murat Parlak took the composition into a new world that enchanted all the guests alike. A gift for every music lover.
Images: Bernhard Simon
The bass-baritone voice of opera singer Diego Villegas was powerful and brilliant in the concert lounge of the Stadtstadel, accompanied by Enzo Weber on the piano. The chosen pieces included a wide range of Italian operas, art songs from German-speaking countries, pieces from well-known musicals and, of course, from his native Colombia. The program was entertainingly accompanied by a variety of interesting facts about the topic: voice, to which Diego Villegas also actively involved the audience. It was a convincing little exercise which taught the listeners about the power of their own voice. Enzo Weber touched the hearts of piano lovers, especially those fans of Schubert, when he delicately presented his interpretation of the work Impromptus in G-flat major.
Diego Villegas studied singing in Bogota, then moved to Vienna and finally completed his master's degree in Bologna. He now lives and works in South Tyrol. Enzo Weber has recently completed his music studies at the conservatory in Bolzano.
It was a wonderful beginning into the 2024 event year at the Stadtstadel.
Images: Matthias Sienz
With a little twinkle in her eye, Nicole Baumann-Groß singing soprano and Murat Parlak on the grand piano stunned the guests at the Christmas concert at the Stadtstadel. Performing classic American and German Christmas songs, they took the audience on an imaginative, wintry and adventurous journey. The audience experienced a twist through a new musical score of well-known carols.
It was an impression that delighted the audience and musicians alike. Narrations and a poem about Advent and Christmas such as "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry, "Advent" by Rainer Maria Rilke, "Snow Animals" by Christoph Mecker and the rascally "Apfent" story by Tony Laurer enticed the audience to enjoy this magical time once again with their expectant "children's eyes". Possibly exclusively at the Stadtstadel during this special evening.
Images: Bernhard Simon
A glowing, warm room on a cold, wet November evening - this is how the Stadtstadel presented itself at the vernissage of the exhibition "The fascination of form. Sculpture, Plastic, Drawing." by Mechthild Ehmann.
The pianist Larissa Richter from Munich and the flutist Antipe da Stella from Zurich framed the wonderful art of Mechthild Ehmann with a wide-ranging musical program. The herself vividly explained to the guests how her abstract sculptures made of glass and gilded bronze are created, which are already being compared to the works of Hans Arp in Belgium and France. The artist's proximity to France, in particular Paris, became the central theme of the evening. The two musicians played works by Saint-Saen, Poulenc and Gabriel Fauré. With 'Opening' from Philip Glass' 'Glasworks' embedded in a play of light in the dark room and three pieces composed especially for this evening by David Bertok from Los Angelos, the colorful sculptures were illuminated in all their depth. It was a fascinating experience for the eyes and ears.
Immersed in the age-old tradition of the Beaujolais Nouveau festival, complete with French delicacies, the evening was a genuine delight for everyone - artists, musicians and guests - in a triad of art and culture.
Images: Ralph Lienert, Guido Weggenmann
A musical project that was agreed upon 15 years ago has now become reality. Murat Parlak at the grand piano and Magnus Dauner on drums and percussion instruments performed together for the first time. With their “free play of tones,” the two terrific musicians enchanted the audience, who listened to the music moved, breathless and completely enthusiastic. The medieval walls, the resonating wooden floor and the vibrating ceiling of the Stadtstadel formed a body of sound that took up the conversation in sound, the musicians playing hand in hand turned it into a phantastic musical experience for the listeners. The harmony between the two musicians was clearly felt in the music, intuitively and without any sheet of music. Three hours with unique musical content.
Images: Ralph Lienert
What an apt description for an extraordinary finissage at the end of the exhibition "In the beginning is the tetrahedron. Perfection in space" by Rüdiger Seidt. The aesthetics and charisma of Rüdiger Seidt's works entered into a wonderful dialog with the rooms of the Stadtstadel and captivated the many visitors to the exhibition in their very own way. They often spent a long time looking at the works and absorbing the harmony they emanated.
For the finissage, Larissa Richter on the grand piano and Nargiza Yusupova on the cello selected unknown works by Scandinavian composers, whose sounds echoed the formal language of the Corten steel sculptures. They captured everyone and everything in the room with sensitivity and intensity. Whether by Jean Sibelius, Johan Svendsen, Edvard Grieg or Carl Nielsen, all compositions were newly rehearsed and often adapted for piano and cello. The audience was enchanted by the two internationally acclaimed musicians and particularly enjoyed the unfamiliar. The highlight of the evening was the interplay between visual art and music. Rüdiger Seidt energetically drew the shape of the tetrahelix on an oversized sheet of music, the cornerstones of which became the starting notes for a spontaneous, joint improvisation for Larissa Richter and Nargiza Yusupova. The two of them made the drawing resound with the greatest of ease. An unforgettable evening.
Images: Bernhard Simon
Everyone knows them, everyone enjoys them. Everyone remembers it. Sometimes even years later. Scenes of the film play in our minds as soon as we hear those first few notes. The music of a motion picture lets us enter another world - the world of the fictional plot. But how is it made? What should it trigger within us? There are a thousand questions about this. David Bertok, composer from Los Angeles, spent an evening at Stadtstadel during a visit to Germany and in the course of the evening took the visitors on a wonderful journey into the world of film and its music. Examples over several decades up to his current film music project "Daughter of the Sun" by Ryan Ward, which just premiered in Montreal at the end of July 2023, showed the changes in film scores over the different genres. It was an exciting evening with alternating highlights on the piano and on the screen. Certainly a topic that promises much more to come. And David Bertok will be there. He has already confirmed that.
Images: Stefanie Gilio / Birgit Kastner-Simon
As light, as velvety, and as fascinating as Rüdiger Seidt's steel sculptures, Larissa Richter created an interesting piano program of rarely performed pieces from the Scandinavian region. With Carl Nielsen's selection "Folktune and Humoresque from Five Piano Pieces", with Rued Langgaard's pieces from the Insectarium and with Jean Sibelius' opus "The Birch Tree and Caprice", visitors to the vernissage were able to discover the individual sculptures from various perspectives in harmony with the music and absorb the wonderful calm of the unusual formal language. Prior to this, the joint walk to the 3.3-metre-high sculpture "Tulipa Rubra" at the Town Hall Square, which is part of the exhibition, enriched the examination of the artist's work. Rüdiger Seidt not only impressively explained his creative process in the design phase, but also described the extraordinary craftsmanship that he leads to perfection over decades of experience with the material and its processing possibilities. The result is a perfection to which there is nothing more to add. An entertaining dialogue between the sculptors, in particular colleagues of Rüdiger Seidt from Baden Württemberg, and the audience concludes the evening together in the Stadtstadel.
Images: Matthias Sienz
Many people associate mountains with our neighboring country Austria. A wonderful country to end the exhibition "Landscape around me - Pictures in me. Mountains 2020 to 2022" ending with a musical bang. From the child prodigy and the Viennese classical period to the minimalist and the experimental, Austria's composers have offered the extraordinary over the centuries, drawing audiences enthusiastically to stages large and small. Larissa Richter has brought together a very special selection of Austria's greats for this evening in a moving concert on 20.06.2023, in keeping with the Stadtstadel's mission statement "Never seen before - never heard before". From Mozart, to Diabelli, Liszt, Mahler and Ligeti, the century-long journey spanned all styles since Mozart. Larissa Richter's choice fell on pieces that are rarely if ever played, often because they fall outside the pianists' repertoire or are simply too demanding. These pieces were also specifically rehearsed by her for this evening. The finale was a composition of her own, which Larissa Richter had never played in public before and for which she asked the audience to suggest names, entirely according to their musical sensibilities. Austrian cuisine and wines provided a culinary highlight from our neighboring country.
Images: Ralf Lienert
String to string, Murat Parlak and his longtime friend Jann Michael Engel let piano and cello resound in the Stadtstadel. At times the piano came to the fore, at others the cello; together they transformed the room into a single body of sound. In their own unique way and with great joy in improvisation, the two musicians played works by Beethoven, Grieg as well as Shostakovich and showed wonderfully how even former masters loved improvisation in order to surprise themselves and their audience time and again. With their own interpretations from the film music "Spiel mir das Lied vom Tod" by Ennio Morricone as well as original compositions by Murat Parlak, the evening culminated in a special sound experience for the audience, whose fingers could almost reach into the strings of both musicians, their music experience felt that close. Quite in the style of lounge art.
Images: Matthias Sienz
A completely new flair could be felt in the Stadtstadel. The big world of theater on a very small stage. With Christine Müller and Martin Karl, co-founders of the theater, a very different, fresh view of important topics of our time was presented to the audience, both young and old. Whether it was Schiller's work "The Legend of William Tell" that brought freedom, solidarity and collective resistance to the center of attention, or Hannes Hüttner's classic children's book "Bei der Feuerwehr wird der Kaffee kalt" ("At the Fire Department, the Coffee Gets Cold") that brought the practical things in life and the social commitment of and for people into focus, it was always a departure into new perspectives on the supposedly self-evident aspects of our time. Enthusiasm was on both sides, the audience, the actors and perhaps also the puppets, who embodied their great roles with perfection. A very special theatrical pleasure.
Images: Birgit Kastner-Simon / Doreen Kauschmann
With great interest, long-time connoisseurs and admirers of his works accepted the invitation to the vernissage on 23.03.2023 in the Stadtstadel. Horst Heilmann himself introduced the pictorial world of his exhibition "Landscapes around me - pictures in me. Mountains 2020- 2022". A unique subject and a unique orientation of an entire exhibition on the subject of the mountain world - works created in a quiet and confining time between 2020 and 2022. Yet the pictures evoke the exact opposite. They instead bear witness to mightiness and vastness. Larissa Richter, pianist and composer from Munich, underlined the effect of the pictorial world with works by Schubert and her own compositions: She opened up the space for all visitors to for their personal feelings when viewing the powerful images.
Images: Matthias Sienz
The exhibition "Formed or Already in Motion? The World Behind." by Guido Weggenmann invites us to make the unique pieces of steel and aluminum sound through music and to open up a whole new facet for the spectators when viewing the sculptures. The Allgäu drummer and percussionist Magnus Dauner, who has already accompanied Guido Weggenmann in depth on earlier projects, approaches Weggenmann's works via two interlocking paths. In his first musical part, "From dealing with time," he interpreted a quote by Albert Einstein and set the findings of the theory of relativity in motion musically. In his second part, he expanded the geographical space and took us rhythmically around the globe to 80 countries. A true art delight for percussion fans and art enthusiasts of contemporary sculptures.
Images: Matthias Sienz
The works of Guido Weggenmann in his exhibition "In Form or Already in Motion? The world behind" invite in their expressiveness, their lightness and their uniqueness a multidimensional form of interpretation. During the final night of Guido Weggenmann's exhibition, Corinne Steudler, actress and dancer at the Theater Kempten, and Murat Parlak, composer, pianist and singer from Munich, jointly interpreted individual sculptures from the exhibition from their point of view and staged them for the audience. Form and movement receive another dimension: the interpretation for viewers via music and dance.
Images: Birgit Kastner-Simon
In the spirit of salon art Murat Parlak convinced his audience. With ease and a lot of emotion he led the enthusiastic audience through the most different epochs of music history and accompanied them with feeling and temprament simultaneously through all genres of music.
Images: Ralf Lienert
Guido Weggenmann, who has been influential in the Kempten art scene for many years, presents in his first solo exhibition in Kempten with works from 2019, 2021 and most importantly his latest works from 2022. This unique exhibition in the Stadtstadel was opened in a small setting with a lounge evening. With Larissa Richter on the grand piano and Dr. Ella Platschka, art historian at the Museum Brot und Kunst Ulm, an interesting interdisziplinay dialogue between sculptor, pianist and art historian emerged.
Images: Ralf Lienert
Medieval documents tell of a flourishing brewing industry in Kempten. The first brewery was built in 1417 by the Frauenwirt with the "Brauerei zur Gans" in Gerberstraße. In the following centuries, more than 20 brew kettles were regularly fired up in the city. The Kemptner obviously held his beer sacred. Martin Simon, Matthias Sienz and Ralf Lienert, together with gallery owner Birgit Kastner-Simon, dove deep into Kempten's history and presented a selected collection of historical photos and memorabilia.
Images: Ralf Lienert