UK: HANS LIBERG TURNS CLASSICAL MUSIC ON ITS HEAD FOR THE LONDON STAGE WITH HIS UNIQUE INTERPRETATION OF MOZART AND BEETHOVEN

Record ID: 388715

  • Title: UK: HANS LIBERG TURNS CLASSICAL MUSIC ON ITS HEAD FOR THE LONDON STAGE WITH HIS UNIQUE INTERPRETATION OF MOZART AND BEETHOVEN
  • Date: 27th October 1999
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) HANS LIBERG SAYING: "No - I was - I'm still a serious musician. I still make serious music but I interrupt it every five seconds".
  • Embargoed: 11th November 1999 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVAE5T2IXQQX70BACPP532PLGF5G
  • Story Text: Turning the world of classical music on its head, Emmy-award winner Hans Liberg, brings his unique interpretation of the works of Mozart and Beethoven to the London stage.Liberg has been singing his own version of Euro blues at the Peacock Theatre with hilarious consequences.
    Humour is so rarely transferrable abroad, but the clown of classical music Hans Liberg, has found a way of taking his laughs overseas -- no easy feat when you consider that his material mainly comprises anecdotes about Mozart and Strauss.Liberg's jokes about classical music may not have universal appeal, but they do cross international borders.
    The Dutch musician has gone down a strom in Austria, Germany and Belgium and two years ago in the United States he won an Emmy.His latest conquest has been England, where he is playing to November 6th at London's Peacock Theatre.There his linguistic versatility and classical send up has been pulling in the crowds.
    Liberg says that humour captures an audience's interest.
    Liberg says: "...When I was 27 I discovered that you can also do something with humour because people are not always listening to the music.They're also eating or drinking while you play.And then I found out you have to tell a story so I played for instance - I told the story in Italian - it's very difficult to follow.But it became more clear, so that's what I did - tried to tell stories with the music and interrupt myself."
    Liberg may not be out on the tiles during his London stay but he has been doing what he terms his 'sit down' comedy on the tiles! This instrument is just one of the musician's many musical tools.
    It sounds very silly.Liberg insists though, that he still makes serious music.
    Liberg says: "No - I was - I'm still a serious musician.
    I still make serious music but I interrupt it every five seconds".
    Another daft prop is his entirely new musical instrument, the Euro-sign-shaped Euro harp, which Liberg uses to demonstrate the Euro blues.
    Liberg says: "I saw this Euro sign and the two bars are like two arms of a guitar so I made a Euro guitar.And on it, when you have the instrument it looks beautiful and then you know what to play on it so I played the Euro blues because you can't tune the intstrument because it's going down all the time.Just like the Euro is going down all the time."
    From Mozart to blues, jazz to Vivaldi and The Beatles, Liberg's message is that classical music shouldn't be highbrow, and should have as much energy as the average pop song.
    Liberg says: "You don't have to play like....it's not chic, classical music doesn't have to be chic.It can also be revolutionary.That's what I want to get out of classical music, it has to be more vital more like pop music."
    And for the rest, the show, if nothing else, can at least be said to cater for all musical tastes.
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