Is it really the same guy, people would often ask, said the “piano cabaret artist” Bodo Wartke during his – one year late – anniversary concert (25 years on stage, which one hardly looks at him) in the Circus Krone. In view of his predominantly lyrical-funny-black songs from the past and the time-critical, committed newer songs. In fact, the range of Wartke’s themes and styles is remarkable, as his selection of works demonstrates. But at the same time you saw the constants that allow the question to be answered with a clear yes.
There’s the presentation. Nobody else is so North German, controlled, perfect in form down to the handkerchief and at the same time gallant and mischievous. And then there is the requirement. Wartke rightly prides himself on his “culture of rhyme”, nobody forges verses so exuberantly and cleanly at the same time, hardly anyone attaches so much importance to linguistic finesse and can therefore also cope with difficult topics such as religious fanaticism in a pointed manner.
Both together result in a certain way in the music teacher and tutor that one would have liked to have had at school. Someone who brings antique stage plays into the present day. Who masters a love song verse in all languages of the world. With his longtime stage partner Melanie Haupt as a guest, he parodies and propagates the French chanson. Who ironically presents Schönberg’s twelve-tone music as a school of democracy. And who – in the “gangster hit” genre he invented – makes even the roughest gangster rapper sayings to Helene Fischer’s “Breathless” melody sound like an educational lecture. Applied to the stage, Bodo Wartke is one of the rare proofs that quality can also make a difference.