ConcertPulse
André Heller & The Best from Vienna
Elbphilharmonie, Großer Saal (Hamburg)
No false modesty: the »André Heller Reflektor« is brought to a close by the Best of Vienna, a title they thoroughly deserve, even if the Austrian capital is also home to heaps of other artists who are no less good than they are. The city boasts a music history going back centuries in a genre that no other city in the world can claim: Viennese song. Festival curator André Heller himself is of course one of the best from Vienna too, and will be taking to the concert stage for the first time in decades. His performance and the entire concert are available in the Elbphilharmonie Mediatheque: Go to video on demand Four years ago, some of these artists performed at the Elbphilharmonie’s »Ganz Wien« festival. Ernst Molden, who always mixes a little bit of Mississippi into the Danube waters with his guitar playing, has, with André Heller, recruited a group of musicians who all have one thing in common: with deep respect for tradition, they breathe new life into Viennese song, thereby keeping the genre vibrant and alive. The charismatic singer Voodoo Jürgens will be among them, as will Nino Mandl, who is better known as Der Nino aus Wien, the Dylan from the Danube city. The clever and sarcastic songwriter Anna Mabo, who plays some of her choruses on a kazoo, and the fabulous singers Tini Kainrath and Ursula Strauss will also be there. Instrumental variety is provided by the Neue Wiener Concert Schrammeln and the Frauenorchester, which actually consists of only three women playing guitar, bass and drums. The Best of Vienna are the best simply because they come from Vienna.