In 2002 he offered his barrage of fire in the Stefaniensaal for the first time. The last time was on Monday. The very last time ever. Because Martin Grubinger, a will-o’-the-wisp in the rhythm wonderland and ennobled as an honorary member of the Music Association for Styria, is withdrawing from the stage. At just the tender age of 40.
The world-class percussionist had carefully considered his farewell, during which he said hello loudly (how else with his huge arsenal of instruments?). After 30 exhausting years of his career, the boy-faced charismatic saw time for new things: intensifying his professorship at the Mozarteum, expanding a music learning app called myGroove, and studying history in Munich.
Of course, champion Grubinger did not compete in the final alone: he brought four heavenly colleagues from his “Percussive Planet”, the pianist Per Rundberg and, for the first time, his son Noah (12) as a little drummer boy.
Peter Filzmaier and Armin Wolf also took part for the fifth time. A bet between Bayern specialist Grubinger and Barcelona aficionado Filzmaier developed into a project in which the political scientist told sports stories from his book “Atemlos” and the ZiB-2 anchorman moderated as a gifted anti-sportsman. But there was no need for the very humorous (and very long) ping-pong conversations between the three.
Between “Number of Fate”, a furioso by Grubinger’s father, Steve Reich’s hypnotizing “Drumming” and a cheeky version of Kurt Engel’s ragtime “Look Out Little Ruth” with the part-time Cuban Arminio Wolfo on the Guilo metal ratchet and the improvised goal wall shooting à la ZDF -sportstudio it was not only 1-0 for Martin Grubinger, but also 1-0 for the music. Long standing ovation for a true winner. A kneeling ovation wouldn’t have been wrong either.
2023-09-26 21:35:39
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