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Concert at the round table in the Neumühle granary – with Corinna Harfouch, singers and musicians
Old Rupinka. The guests of the Aequinox concert in the Neumühle granary experienced an extraordinary concert on Sunday. Not only was this actress Corinna Harfouch there – not the first time at Aequinox. The form of the event was also exciting.
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The last concert of Aequinox in the Neumühle granary
But most of all it was goodbye. According to Aequinox organizers Gabriele Lettow and Wolfgang Katschner from Lautten Compagney, this will probably be Aequinox’s last concert at this unique venue. “For us, it was a charming place with a charming person,” says Gabriele Lettow to Manfred Neumann, who opened the granary to host Aequinox concerts in his twelve year old and right from the start. But it doesn’t belong to him anymore.
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The audience – there is no more room – accepted what they heard with disappointed cheers. And for Neumann there is a gift for good cooperation.
Then Katschner with a lute and two of his musicians sit down at a round table with music stands. Four singers have been added, including Corinna Harfouch. There is talk of this and that, and also of John Dowland, a composer who lived around 1600 and whom little is known about.
John Dowland’s music met John Donne’s poetry, read by Corinna Harfouch
“They say he wrote 100 pieces for the lute only,” boasts the lute player. And the texts? Most of them probably go back to an anonymous person, a shop talking to the public of the table. This is sufficient cause for speculation. Reason enough to play Dowland’s music – quite informally and like house music among friends.
Tenor Vincent Lesage
© Source: Thomas Lox
The “Capella Angelica” vocal quartet – consisting of Kathleen Danke, Juliane Böhme, Vincent Lesage and Cornelius Uhle – sings great Dowland songs from his songbooks, delicately played by the viola, theorba and the lute. Interspersed with chatter, translations of Dowland’s English texts reveal magical poetry about love, lust and death. Dowland is called the master of melancholy for a reason.
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Corinna Harfouch chose poems by John Donne, a contemporary of Dowland, as well as Shakespeare. “It’s much more complex than Shakespeare,” he marvels. “I am in love with this poet.” You notice this when you immerse yourself in the texts. “I’ll read another one in a minute. Or better two, he says and chants “canonization”, “sunrise” and “good morning.”
The round table as a special format in the spirit of convivial house music
Or later, “To a Lover Going to Sleep” – it’s spicy and very erotic. Verbal, longing to undress a woman naked. “You my America”, Donne sighs in Harfouch’s voice as the audience laughs. He is sitting around the round table – after the break, the actors at the table switch sides once so that the audience can look everyone in the face.
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Corinna Harfouch read John Donne’s poetry.
© Source: Thomas Lox
Moved or amused song after song: “Fine Knacks for Ladies” – knick-knacks are accessories. “My offer is rubbish, but my heart is pure,” the tenor proclaimed miserably. “Flow my Tears” is well known. Even more famous is the finale of “Come Again, Sweet Love”. It captivates and caresses the ear.
Lautten Compagney and the vocal quartet “Capella Angelica” inspire
The audience is delighted with the wonderful sounds of this extraordinary performance. “Some sources say Dowland was buried in 1626,” says one at the table. “Other sources say he’s still alive,” says another. “Of course there is – in his songs.” This can be taken as the last word.