Classical club

With low lights, video projections on unfinished walls, and a crowd of 30-somethings in jeans and sweatshirts holding bottles of beer - the Yellow Lounge looks just like any other trendy Berlin club.

But instead of house music, trip-hop or drum-and-bass, it's a waltz that is coming out of the speakers here. Some of the party-goers are even swaying in three-four time to the music while they chat.

This classical music venue is called The Yellow Lounge, a club in Berlin that is looking to introduce younger people to a genre of music that is usually not even on their radar.

For many of them, classical music is foreign, old-fashioned - and, well, just boring. It's associated with well-heeled, middle-aged and elderly people sitting politely in a concert hall. This lack of interest has economic consequences for the classical market: CD and concert-ticket sales are falling.

It's the mix that counts

Once a month, young people can pay six euros ($8.90) to listen to Mozart arias and Bach cantatas in an unusual atmosphere - a concept the Yellow Lounge has dubbed "Classic in the Club."

"We wanted to take classical music off its elite pedestal," said DJ Canisius, who helped found the project in 2003. "Here, everything's a lot more easy-going than in a traditional concert hall."

At the club, the 40-year-old DJ in a baseball cap decides which symphony recording to play next. He's a classically trained violinist and his day job is in an orchestra. For DJ Canisius, the Yellow Lounge is a chance to make classical music attractive to younger audiences - pure, and not backed with house beats or pop rhythms.

"I don't play the entire pieces, I mix them up," he explained. That means a Gregorian chant could seamlessly flow into a Beethoven symphony, for example. "It seems out of context at first, but it sounds great."

The result is a new, unexpected sound that piques listeners' curiosity.

Daniel Hope in jeans

It's the live act, however, that is the highlight of each Classic in the Club event. Many of the performers are young stars in the classical music scene, like British violinist Daniel Hope, who recently performed for an audience of 500 in the Yellow Lounge.

Dressed in jeans and t-shirts, Hope and his five-member ensemble blended right in with the crowd - until they started to play. Hope's fingers raced across the strings in an energetic interpretation of Vivaldi, which won a long round of applause from the club-goers.

"I love this directness," said the 35-year-old violinist of the setting. He lives in Germany and has performed in the Yellow Lounge several times before. "It's really hot in the club, so the sound is dryer. I have to play more gently."

Most of the audience members are new to classical music, so Hope tells a few anecdotes about the composers and the music before he plays each piece: Vivaldi was a womanizer and Baroque musicians liked to drink and party. That's something this audience of nightlife fans can relate to.

In a traditional concert hall, decorum is called for, and listeners often make an extra effort even to hold their sneezing or coughing to the time between pieces. But in the Yellow Lounge, drinking or clapping - or sneezing - during the performance isn't frowned upon, and it's that relaxed atmosphere that keeps people coming back.

Most have heard about the club by word of mouth, since the Yellow Lounge doesn't advertise. That lends the whole thing an insider feel that increases its appeal with this crowd.

Author: Aygul Cizmeciogliu (kjb)

Editor: Kyle James