Goethe Lounge: Norbert Meyn

From 1920s Berlin and Viennese concert halls to London’s spirit of the Blitz and postwar Australia:

• Norbert Meyn, tenor (London)

• Kevin Tamanini, piano (Melbourne)

This cabaret recital presents songs in English and German by composers who fled the Nazis in Austria and Germany and found a new home in Britain. Explored and re-discovered during recent research at the Royal College of Music in London and the University of Salzburg, Austria, the songs by Hans Gál, Mátyás Seiber, Eric Sanders, Karl Rankl and others encompass dark and hilarious humour, nostalgia, a spirit of protest and defiance as well as an internationalist perspective. The recital will also include some songs by composers from Nazi Europe who emigrated to Australia.

Please arrive at 6pm, with the event starting at 6.15pm. The evening will include a pre-performance talk by Prof. Nils Grosch, Head of Musicology at Salzburg University, Austria, and the mobile exhibition Music, Migration and Mobility – The Legacy of Émigré Musicians from Nazi Europe in Britain with an added display about Émigré musicians in Australia.

This event is co-presented by the Goethe-Institut and the Austrian Embassy in Canberra. Austrian Ambassador Elisabeth Koegler will attend the event;  refreshements will be served with the exhibition after the performance.