Max Raabe, brass and other matters

[Scheherezade]

Was I the only person on this forum to see the divine and incomparable Max Raabe with the equally intoxicating Palast Orchester at the Cadogan Hall last night?

 

I shall lay my cards on the table, I have long been a fan, but for anyone less familiar with Herr Raabe, this man is droll and delicious and totally gives the lie to the idea that Germans have no sense of humour.

 

I cannot begin to describe the evening - you had to be there - but, by way of summary, it was an evening of slick, arch performances, sometimes lyrical, sometimes ironic, but always performed with affection and frequently delivered with a conspiratorial 'wink' to the audience.

 

Last night stayed firmly within Herr Raabe's core repertoire of Weimar era songs from both sides of the Atlantic, each introduced by a fitting bon mot and all of them concluded with a tribute by name to the individual soloists in that particular piece. Apropos one song, he advised us that whilst we might understand how, as a King, Herod might have adhered to Salome's chosen reward of the head of the man she loved on a silver salver, surely as a father he must have wondered: "where did I go wrong with my daughter?"

 

We had Kurt Weill, Cole Porter and everything inbetween. From time to time the sharp-eyed will have detected the odd, Trocks-style disagreement between various members of the band, many of whom played multiple instruments and two of whom provided a brief and timely chorus for Herr Raabe at one point during the evening.

 

And what a band! Engaging, amusing and never less than absolutely note-perfect. Listening to the brass section, I was moved to reflect how certain members of the ROH orchestra could have learned a thing or two had they been there last night.

[alison]

I have to admit that I've never heard of him - and though I picked up a few brochures when I was last at the Cadogan in early January I don't think they went as far as March    It's absolutely not true that Germans don't have a sense of humour, of course: it's just that German humour and British humour don't seem to be hugely compatible  

[Geoff]

18 hours ago, Scheherezade said:

Was I the only person on this forum to see the divine and incomparable Max Raabe with the equally intoxicating Palast Orchester at the Cadogan Hall last night?

 

I shall lay my cards on the table, I have long been a fan, but for anyone less familiar with Herr Raabe, this man is droll and delicious and totally gives the lie to the idea that Germans have no sense of humour.

 

Oh thank you for this: I too really like Max Raabe and am now kicking myself for not noticing he was back in London.