Mozart and Modern Art Mark the New Year
January 3, 2006
Since 2006 has been deemed the Year of Mozart, there will be many events celebrating the Austrian musician's life and work. From the end of January until March, the Music Instrument Museum in Berlin will display a selection of Mozart's scores including that of the opera "Cosi Fan Tutte" and instruments such as his bass clarinet.
Also at the end of January until May, the City History Museum in Offenbach will exhibit scores bought directly from Mozart's widow by composer Johann Andre Anton in 1799. For children and adults alike, the Museum of Puppet Theater in Bad Kreuznach will put on special shows and exhibitions called "Mozart on a String" from June until September.
In Dresden, the Semper Opera will stage performances of Mozart operas such as "The Marriage of Figaro," "Don Giovanni" and "Cosi Fan Tutte" in their Dresden Days festival beginning Jan.22.
And in Augsburg, the birthplace of Mozart's father, Leopold, The Mozart Year will be officially opened on Jan. 27 with a concert sponsored by the German Mozart Society. The performance will feature the young Latvian mezzo-soprano Elina Garanca, accompanied by the Munich Radio Orchestra conducted by Mozart expert Harry Bicket. The main events of Augsburg's 55th Mozartfest will be held from May 12 - 28, in keeping with tradition.
Key exhibits
Mozart isn't the only cultural legend with a significant birthday in 2006. Dutch master painter Rembrant, who was born 400 years ago this year, is being honored at the Duke Anton Ulrich Museum in Braunschweig with a special exhibit from September to December.
Meanwhile, Bonn will host key works from the Guggenheim in New York beginning in July. The show, at the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany, will feature 250 pieces from its five locations called "The Collection."
Kiel's Kunsthalle will feature an exhibition of the work of German Expressionist painter Christian Rohlfs called "Encounters with Modern Art," running until April. The exhibition focuses on Rohlfs' work during the first decade of the 20th century, and traces Rohlfs’ interaction with artists and schools of painting that have been a driving force in modern art from Neo-Impressionism to Vincent van Gogh and Edvard Munch to abstract movements.
Starting this month in Hamburg is "Glimpse into Hidden Worlds," an exhibition featuring German engravings from Dürer to Chodoviecki. The Hamburg Art Gallery is presenting a selection from its inventory of copperplate prints. About 100 prints from the total portfolio of almost 1500 items provide a panorama of German graphic art from 1450 to 1800. Engravings from the Dürer era are the centerpiece of the exhibition, whether by Dürer himself or his predecessors and contemporaries such as Schongauer, Holbein, Burgkmair, Baldung Grien and others.