DESCRIPTION:
Deutsches Haus at New York University presents
A salon-style concert presenting the darkly humorous spirit of Berlin's Weimar era through song and tales by Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill, Mischa Spoliansky, Friedrich Hollaender and more.
With entertainer and vintage cabaret specialist Daniel Isengart.
Musical direction by Jeffrey Klitz.
September 5th, 2013

During Germany's shortlived Weimar Republic, Berlin became a frantic hotbed that sizzled with a lust for life and all the modern hedonistic excesses the Prussian capital was all to eager to offer. Daily life was a tight balancing act of political, social and cultural extremes which became the fodder for myriads of writers, artists and composers who flocked to the burgeoning city. The new cabaret art form, with its inate immediacy and satirical leanings (and more often than not louche, sexually permissive setting) was particularly attuned to serve as a twisted mirror of the adrenaline and jazz-fuelled Zeitgeist, much to the delight of its patrons from all walks of life who basked nightly in its alluring twilight, happily in denial about the humiliating past, the contentious present and the looming future. Yet the dance on the volcano, as writer Klaus Mann would eventually call it, did not last for long. Soon, the biting humor and satire that had been the order of the day (and a characteristic tool for survival in the face of adversity) were replaced by a politically sanctioned sentimentality that served as a cover-up for a growing force that would eventually leave the Weimar experiment (and much of Berlin) in ashes.

"Es geht auch anders. Aber so geht es auch."
-- Bertolt Brecht

Daniel Isengart is a New York City-based performer specializing in contemporary adaptations of the continental Weimar cabaret style. His solo acts have been presented at countless performance venues including Joe's Pub, BAMCafé, and Galapagos Art Space. He has also been featured at The Museum of Modern Art, Café Sabarsky, The Philadelphia Museum, SF MoMA, the Cleveland Museum of Modern Art, and New York's Museum Mile Festival.

Jeffrey Klitz is a Yale graduate and highly regarded New York music director, arranger
and orchestrator. On Broadway he served as music director/conductor for Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Guys & Dolls, Hot Feet and Lennon. Other Broadway credits: Chicago, Grand Hotel and Stardust. He has worked with numerous performers, serving as music director and pianist for Judy Collins, Joel Grey, Betty Buckley, Tommy Tune, Judy Kuhn, Carol Hall and Amanda McBroom, among others.

This concert was presented as part of our Haus-Fest 2013.

Video recorded and edited by Laia Cabrera & Co.
http://laiacabrera.com/company