Germany Turns to Fine Arts in 2014

PHOTO: Heidelberg wants to brand itself as the city of dance in Europe and will begin this year with the first Tanzbiennale Festival. (courtesy Heidelberg Tourism)

The fine arts will take center stage in Germany with major celebrations and developments in the arts. Düsseldorf will celebrate the Biennial Schumannfest and host the Quadriennale Düsseldorf 2014 Fine Arts Festival; Leipzig is opening more space in the Mendelssohn House; and Hamburg will host its first Tanzbiennale festival of modern dance.

Many were surprised when the German National Tourism Board singled out the 300th birthday of Bach as one of its major themes for 2014 that is Carl Philip Emanuel Bach.

Unlike Hank Williams Jr. or Frank Sinatra Jr., who really are only famous because of their fathers, C.P.E. Bach was a major composer, even if he happened to be the son of arguably the most important musical genius of all time, Johann Sebastian Bach.

Though C.P.E. Bach was born in Weimar in 1714, while his father directed music at the ducal court, the city that he is most tied to is Hamburg and Hamburg will be celebrating him robustly all year long. The son's music was a dramatic departure from the father's. C.P.E. entered more romantic strains into an oeuvre of 150 sonatas, more than 50 concertante works and more than 20 settings of the Passion.

Düsseldorf will celebrate native son Robert Schumann and the visual arts in 2014. The biennial Schumannfest (www.schumannfest.de) will take place from May 16 to June 2 and the Quadriennale Düsseldorf 2014 Fine Arts Festival will run April 5 to Aug. 10. Schumann was Düsseldorf's musical director from 1850 to 1854 and lived at five different addresses, including one on the beautiful tree-lined Königsallee, which today is one of Europe's main high-end shopping boulevards. The festival's events will take place in various venues across the city, most of them at the planetarium-turned-concert venue Tonhalle.

The city will attract some of the world's biggest names in music and arts, including the American violinist Hilary Hahn, Norwegian Ambiente musician Nils Petter Molvaer and actor Klaus Maria Brandauer .

The Quadriennale Düsseldorf 2014 Fine Arts Festival will connect 13 different art venues for four months. It will feature many events all over the city. Highlights include: "Art and Alchemy - The Mystery of Transformation" at the Museum Kunstpalast, an exhibit about the relationship between art and alchemy, with a variety of works from antiquity to the modern age.

Artists shown include: Joseph Beuys, Jan Brueghel d.Ä., Lucas Cranach, Hendrick Goltzius, Max Ernst, Rebecca Horn, Anish Kapoor, Yves Klein, Sigmar Polke, Rembrandt and Peter Paul Rubens.

The K20 Museum, which houses the collection of the State North Rhine-Westphalia, will show "Kandinsky, Malevich, Mondrian - The Infinite White Abyss," an exploration of white parts in the works of the title's three artists. Packages, called "Düsseldorf à la Card" can be booked right from the tourism office's website.

Terpsichore Town

"We want Heidelberg to be synonymous with dance," said Nanine Linning, artistic director of the Dance Company at the Heidelberg Theater.

The first Tanzbiennale Heidelberg, which is to be held from Feb. 21 to March 2, marks the initial step towards achieving this objective. Over the 10 days of the event, a collaboration between the independent Unterwegs Theater and the Theater und Orchester Heidelberg will reveal just how varied contemporary dance can be.

The whole spectrum of modern dance will be interpreted by internationally known choreographers, as well as young, as yet unknown regional artists. The Theater und Orchester Heidelberg have had a permanent dance section for the last year or so.

Practically every production of Nanine Linning's Dance Company during the 2012/13 season was sold out. For 25 years, the independent Unterwegs Theater has dedicated itself to bringing dance to a wider cross-section of the public.

Both institutions are working together to create an infrastructure for dance that may well be with us in 20 years' time. Last October, the Choreografische Centrum Heidelberg (CC) opened a working and meeting place for young dancers and choreographers who are just starting out on their careers. The next step is the Tanzbiennale Heidelberg, which will take place every two years.

A highpoint of the festival will be dance from Baden-Württemberg: a huge gala (March 1) will demonstrate the intense power of the dance energy existing within the state.

For example, the HeadFeedHands dance company from Freiburg is scheduled to make an appearance. Guest performances by well-known companies and choreographers from the Czech Republic, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and France underline the broad international appeal of the event.

Interactive shows invite children and those who are still young at heart to experience the joy of movement and music. The first Tanzbiennale Heidelberg will also offer a range of workshops and training sessions arranged by the guest companies. A fringe program of exhibitions, films and discussions will also encourage everyone to explore the world of dance with all their senses.

Leipzig's Mendelssohn House Opens a New Floor

Leipzig's Mendelssohn House reopened with its new floor on Feb. 3, his birthday. Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy lived and died in Leipzig. One of Germany's greatest composers, pianists and organists, Mendelssohn is a major figure in a city also associated with J.S. Bach and Richard Wagner.

For visitors, there is now an extra 400 square meters more exhibition space. In the new rooms on the ground floor visitors can experience an interactive experience with the life and works of the composers. One exhibit, the "Effektorium" turn visitors into conductors, if only for a little while.

A library with audio and video material rounds off this new and vivid museum concept. The museum's old floor has remained untouched and contains Mendelssohn's former apartment, authentically preserved. Sunday concerts (weekly at 11 a.m.) are performed in the Mendelssohn family music room.

Marketing for Destination Germany in the U.S in 2014 will feature several themes. The country's enormous inventory of 38 UNESCO World Heritage Sites heads the list that also includes the 25thAnniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall and a celebration of C.P.E. Bach.

Follow me on Twitter @JRuggia1.

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