Oliver Steller mit Dietmar Fuhr (Kontrabass) und Bernd Winterschladen (Saxophon) - Zwischen den Sternen. Gedichte - Briefe - Leben.
Oliver Steller speaks and sings Rainer-Maria Rilke “Zwischen den Sternen”
“Zwischen den Sternen” - Poems • Letters • Life
with Dietmar Fuhr (double bass) and Bernd Winterschladen (saxophone)
“When we hear the name ‘Rainer Maria Rilke’, many of us can recall a few lines from some of his most famous and beautiful poems. The poet Rainer Maria Rilke was one of the most prominent literary figures at the beginning of the 20th century.
“You need not understand life, then it will be like a celebration!” is a little poem by Rainer Maria Rilke. The audience could now, as the poet continues, “be cherished like a child with blossoms.” A unique evening turned into a celebration, exhilarating and inspiring. An evening for heart and mind, from which one left with sharpened senses and which will resonate for a long time. Oliver Steller is a man of quiet, meditative tones, recounting and singing Rilke's tumultuous life journey in an unpretentious, reflective, and humorous manner. The actor, singer, and guitarist provides refuge for a good two hours on an island of intellectual contemplation. Steller and his fantastic musician colleagues, saxophonist Bernd Winterschladen and Dietmar Fuhr on double bass, explore every literary emotional branch of the poet in their Rilke settings. Moreover, they succeed in convincing even skeptics who have yet to access the poet's elevated tones. One finds oneself “Zwischen den Sternen”, as the title of the homage suggests, and possibly leaves the night as an admirer of Rilke. No more can a musically literary evening achieve. In any case, Oliver Steller and his musician colleagues are light-years better than the seemingly great names who recently sought to delight the audience with an event-trimmed “Rilke Project.” "Who speaks of victories? Surviving is everything!" Rilke notes defiantly-resigned during his Parisian galley years that are both "home and visitation" to him. “Consider and linger,” advises Rodin, for whom he works as a secretary by the Seine. Rilke writes the “Book of Hours” and may have felt like “The Panther,” which he allows to discover “no world” behind “a thousand bars.” “Redemption came, as almost always with Rilke, in the form of a woman,” Oliver Steller frequently repeats this observation with a hint of laconicism. Rilke and women, a chapter in itself. A wealthy noblewoman invites the poet to Capri in 1905 so that he may unfold like a “fig tree in the moonlight,” and the three interpreters let a hint of the sea's roar break in. Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis offers the restless one refuge in Duino in 1912, where the “Duino Elegies” are born. Steller allows him to explore the vastness of Russia previously with the 14 years older Lou Andreas Salomé. Rilke will not succeed in breaking free from the married woman, who was also beloved by Nietzsche. Finally, the only year-long marriage with the Worpswede sculptor Clara Westhoff, who likely did not perceive the nights of love with the loneliness-obsessed one as a “fairy tale from 1001 nights,” unlike Claire Goll. In 1926, Rilke dies at the age of 51 in the Valais, consumed “by the hurricane in his spirit, with which he has written the ‘Sonnets to Orpheus,’” Steller concludes.
Further press reviews:
“Beautiful musical interpretations!” SWR Television
“Oliver Steller conveys the emotions and thoughts of the various text passages with the help of his voice, gestures, and body posture. The connection between music and literature succeeds perfectly for the trio.” Deutschland Today
“Anyone who is reminded of their school days by the names Lessing, Heine, Hölderlin, Rilke, and Tucholsky, and nearly breaks out in hives, has not experienced Oliver Steller live.” WN
“An evening with guitarist and reciter Oliver Steller always promises a literary musical highlight.” Schwäbische Zeitung
“Who can comfort and delight with a sentence? The reciter. No one can do it as brilliantly as Oliver Steller, not least because he is also a musician.” Westfälische Nachrichten
“A successful evening for soul and mind.” Selfkant Online
“Oliver Steller worked for two years on his Rainer Maria Rilke program. The selection of texts, the dramaturgy, and the musical adaptation ultimately resulted in a grand stage program.” Rheinische Post
“The musical implementations impressed with sophistication, emotionality, precise breaks, ostinato soundscapes, unison passages, and wonderful saxophone improvisations. The interpreter from the Rhineland possesses not only a fully resonant baritone voice but also a strong desire to shape music.” Hessisch Niedersächsische Allgemeine
“Oliver Steller’s voice fills the hall; even the pauses between the verses were felt across hundreds of spectators, still resonating in the last row. The reciter knows how to captivate his audience until the last line.” Stuttgarter Nachrichten
“Oliver Steller has that tension-filled position between tenor and bass that seems predestined to tell the listener of a yearning search. Intimate, virtuosic, and sometimes consciously mysterious.” Bonner Generalanzeiger
“Subtly, Oliver Steller brings the poet Rilke into the modern age during his performance - making him a contemporary.” Kölner Rundschau
“With his adaptations, Steller brings Rilke closer to a larger audience and thus to a poet who, due to his immense linguistic power, imagination, and inexhaustible treasure trove of images and words, belongs to the greatest poets of the German language.” Kölner Stadtanzeiger
“Between songs and recitations, Steller manages to entertainingly and partly ironically outline Rilke's life. Steller's Rilke evening is, in every respect, a homage to the poet.” Solinger Tageblatt
“The concentrated power leaps at the listeners and leaves them breathless. Steller plunges deeply into Rilke's life, in a fantastic journey to one of the most outstanding poetic personalities of the early 20th century and brings it to life with all its facets.” Schwäbische Zeitung
“That evening, someone presented Rilke's poetry, which lies far from self-presentation. Moving between jazz and new music, with a hint of klezmer and compelling rhythms, this musical-literary evening takes shape. Rilke's poetry requires a sensitivity that Steller possesses. Just as strong is Steller’s presentation when he allows Rilke's words to have their own effect.” Marburger Zeitung
“The evening was flawless - a polished Rilke all-around package.” Oberhessische Presse
“Oliver Steller’s Rilke program is a powerful connection of text and musical interpretation.” Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung
“In Oliver Steller’s Rilke program, you remain wide awake until the last minute.” Audience voice
“Impressive, lively, and sometimes humorous, Oliver Steller portrayed the restless life of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke. His impressive voice, accompanied by his guitar and his finely tuned musicians, completely fascinated the audience.” Weser Kurier Bremen
“A sensitive interplay between lyrical music and musical poetry.” Nürnberger Zeitung
“Even the musical talent of each individual high-caliber musician was worth the visit. The three formed a convincing unit and turned the evening into a literary-musical total work of art of its own kind.” Münsteraner Zeitung
“Oliver Steller has the special gift of bringing poems to life.” FAZ
“Over the course of the evening, the excellent musician trio around Oliver Steller did above all one thing: sparked the desire for more!” Bonner Generalanzeiger
“Addictive risks are not excluded!” Münstersche Zeitung
“The concentrated power of this program leaps at the listeners and leaves them breathless.” Schwäbische Zeitung
Musician biographies:
Bernd Winterschladen, born in 1960, plays tenor, baritone, and soprano saxophones as well as bass clarinet. He combines traditionalism and free play in a way that has made him one of the most sought-after musicians across various styles. He has played, among others, with the Cologne cult band “The Piano Has Been Drinking,” “Trance Groove,” and in the “Harald Schmidt Show.”
Double bassist Dietmar Fuhr, born in 1964, is one of the most sought-after bassists in Germany. Due to his musical experience and range, the list of groups with which he works reads like a “Who's Who” of the international jazz scene: Nils Wogram, Richie Beirach, David Liebman, Kurt Rosenwinkel, George Garzone, Bill Dobbins, Danny Gottlieb, Antonio Farao, and many more.
Photo: Oliver Steller
Doors open at 7:30 PM
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
