Loft-Kultur premiere – KlavierStimmen

All the invitations have been sent, the red wine is breathing and the buffet platters are laid out. One last check. Admittedly, we were a little nervous before the start of the first "Loft-Kultur" event. Had we thought of everything? The room gradually fills up, and the programme can begin. And it soon becomes clear: the mix of culture and get-together on this balmy early-summer evening delights our guests, relaxes, inspires and sparks conversation.

With almost 100 guests from media, culture, politics and business, the event attracted even more interest than we had originally expected. That motivates us for the events to come.

The evening's programme was full of contrasts, but everything on it had one thing in common: "KlavierStimmen" (piano voices/piano tuning).

Torben Garlin
As a piano maker, concert technician and head of the "C. Bechstein Centrum Berlin", Torben Garlin gets around a lot in the world of pianos. When we talked to him about our idea of launching a cultural salon series, he was immediately ready to support us. Not only did he perfectly voice the C. Bechstein grand piano in our studio, he also opened the evening's programme with a humorous, vivid and informative introduction to the craft of the piano tuner.

Eric Schneider
A piece that was considered unplayable during the composer's lifetime and was only performed in public for the first time decades after his death? The composer is Ludwig van Beethoven, the piece is the famous Hammerklavier Sonata (Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major, Op. 106), and the pianist who first played it in public was none other than Franz Liszt.
That evening, Eric Schneider played the fourth movement of this mammoth of the piano repertoire. An overwhelming emotional experience for the audience. Eric Schneider has made a name for himself worldwide above all as an accompanist of art songs and has been teaching at the Berlin University of the Arts since 2009.
Anyone who couldn't be there that evening, or who would like to see Eric Schneider's complete recording of the Hammerklavier Sonata, can find a recording of him on YouTube.

Arno Lücker & Sebastian Köchig
From their current programme "Der große Georg-Kreisler-Abend" (The Great Georg Kreisler Evening), Arno Lücker (dramaturge and pianist) and Sebastian Köchig (tenor) had chosen two songs for our guests. With "Tauben vergiften im Park" (Poisoning Pigeons in the Park) and "Der Musikkritiker" (The Music Critic) they struck right at the darkly humorous heart of our audience. A trailer for one of their musical cabaret programmes can be seen here.

Friede Merz
Pop and folk spiked with prog and post-"who-knows-what", and using the tools of jazz and classical music, Friede Merz creates her own sound. That sound was the fourth item on the evening's programme – and the audience was immediately spellbound. Friede Merz has just recorded her debut "Denmark Street" at the Nalepa studios in Berlin with her long-time allies Paul Santner, Johannes Ballestrem and Fabian Rösch; it will be released at the end of 2017. You can already get a little foretaste on her website at friedemerzmusic.com.

Photos: Dovile Sermokas.