1923 is the year in which the first radio station went into operation in Berlin. Which BR Klassik has now taken as an opportunity to dedicate the entire season of its studio concerts to the turning point. After all, some of the rather bad things from the Roaring Twenties are currently being reissued: inflation, uncertain geopolitical conditions, internal political divisions.
Some good things, on the other hand, are less so – such as the then quite intensive exchange between classical music and jazz, for which George Gershwin stands as an example with “An American in Paris” or with his “Rhapsody in Blue”. The trumpeter Simon Höfele and the pianist Frank Dupree used it – the former in the pianist’s arrangement – as a framework for the opening concert in Studio 2 of the Funkhaus. After all, the trumpet is firmly at home in both worlds, which the young, already fairly established Höfele finds more of a pleasure than a burden. The fact that Dupree, his permanent piano partner, once studied jazz drums can be heard from the confidently flexible timing, even when he plays George Antheil’s piano sonata “The Airplane” from 1921/22 alone.
One does not remain too rigid in the corset of the epoch. Antheil is also represented with his rather classical trumpet sonata from 1951, George Enescu with his “Légende” from 1906, and the contemporary Daniel Schnyder, who strays between genres, with a trumpet sonata. What all of these pieces have in common is that they demand high virtuosity from both trumpeter and pianist, which makes the unusual combination varied over a good two hours. Höfele switches at lightning speed between two trumpets, a flugelhorn and various mutes, although he is actually at his greatest when he seduces one of these instruments to sing heartily. Which he even does with a lotus flute in Kurt Weill’s “Slow Fox and Algi Song”. Finally, the original vocal melody pays homage to a soap brand that still exists today. Does BR Klassik need surreptitious advertising to get through the difficult times? Probably more humor.