Has culture lost its attractiveness as a live event? In the past few weeks, the feuilletons and classic radio stations have given a lot of thought to why the audience is sometimes very hesitant to return to the theaters and concert halls – when the restrictions caused by the pandemic have been lifted for a long time. Mental weaning during the pandemic? Too many events due to numerous catch-up dates? fear of contagion? Convenience? Financial reasons? Other priorities?
In Ottobrunn at the Wolf-Ferrari-Haus, the development is currently viewed with mixed feelings. “It’s really starting again now, but the people are still missing,” says Horst Frank, the manager of the house. The piano festival “Jazzpiano-Marathon” in the series “Ottobrunner Konzerte” on July 8th and 9th has so far only been accepted suboptimal, despite top-class protagonists such as Bojan Z., William Lecomte, David Gazarov and Simon Nabatov. “The indoor events in particular are not going so well,” says Horst Frank. He is hoping for improvement and is also focusing on outdoor options: at the beginning of August there will be music and cabaret under the open sky in the rose garden on several days around the Ottobrunn cultural summer festival.
The situation in Ottobrunn looks much more satisfactory when it comes to subscriptions. Here, too, it is important to win back and keep the audience, now that the use of corresponding offers is possible again after a two-year break. Bernd Seidel, artistic adviser to the Wolf-Ferrari-Haus and schedule designer, is satisfied with the response so far – but still hopes for an increase. “The art of my job is to reach as many target groups and people as possible with the programs,” he explains. In other words: it’s all in the mix. Big shows like “Pasión de Buena Vista” or musicals like “Blues Brothers” and “Aladin” will be guests in Ottobrunn in the coming autumn/winter season, cabaret greats like Max Uthoff and Michael Altinger will be guests, there will be opera (Smetana’s ” The Bartered Bride”) and ballet (Tanzforum Munich shows the “St. John Passion”).
And of course theatre, including the renewed and updated production of “The Great Case of Lady Macbeth and Macbeth”, for which Seidel himself is responsible as director. “It was a huge success,” says Seidel about the premiere of 2019, which is why they want to offer it again and “we want to be even cheekier and braver in the new production.” The play, based on Shakespeare’s drama, is not only about murder, morality and power games, but also about the passionate love between the two main characters. This time it’s in the “Mixed Entertainment” subscription series, and there’s also “Classic” and “Cabaret” (four performances each). More information at https://wfh-ottobrunn.de/programm/ or phone: 089/608 08 300. The subscription sale officially runs until July 31st.
The coming season offers variety and quality again
Seidel, who as a director repeatedly dares to create provocative and unconventional productions, is not quite as wild as a programmer and strives for an entertaining balance: “Of course there are also events that I wouldn’t necessarily go to myself,” he states. “But it can’t all just be crazy and critical, otherwise culture would somehow just be elitist and one-sided.” The 68-year-old, who as a self-confessed “Alt-68er” basically attributes a political and social dimension to culture, knows about the ambivalence of its meaning and the discrepancy between ideal claims and reality. “The current concept of culture: It’s a difficult topic. What political value does theater still have?” Is it possible to make society fairer through art and culture? Probably not at the moment, especially since other problems caused by the pandemic and war are in the foreground. Nevertheless, Seidel, who has extended his contract with the Wolf-Ferrari-Haus for another three years, is self-confident enough to attest the program in Ottobrunn “an enormous variety of artistic approaches”.
The Las Karamba sextet is a guest at the “Ottobrunner Sommer”.
(Photo: Antonio Povedano)
The offer in the coming weeks and months is also varied and top-class: In addition to the “Jazz Piano Marathon”, there will be the traditional Ottobrunn “Cultural Summer Festival” in the rose garden of the Wolf-Ferrari-Haus on July 30th and afterwards for the first time said open-air week. Horst Frank’s idea was simply to use the large outdoor stage, which is set up anyway for the (free) summer of culture, for a longer period of time and to rent it for more days.
At the beginning of August, when other community centers are already taking their summer break, some well-known and exciting artists will be coming to Ottobrunn: including cabaret artist Wolfgang Krebs, singer and cabaret artist Roland Hefter Isarrider and “I Dolci Signori”, who want to enchant the audience with an “Italo Pop Night”, as well as the Cuban Grammy award winner El Nene and the group Las Karamba, the son, cha-cha-cha, salsa and timba with influences from rap and combine urban music. “It will be musical fireworks,” Frank believes. “In general, we want to create a summery and cheerful atmosphere in the special ambience of the rose garden.”
The fact that “Ottobrunner Sommer” takes place in the first week of vacation could – if the weather is right – perhaps even be an advantage in terms of the hoped-for audience interest: “On the one hand, people don’t all go away in the first week. On the other hand, it’s admitted significantly fewer events overall,” says Frank. In a way, less culture would be more.