Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) has always attracted composers. On the one hand, this is obvious, because Heine’s poems often tell the “old story” of happiness and disappointment in love in a virtuoso mixture of emotion and irony, which can be used to create wonderfully complex songs. On the other hand, it is actually astonishing that Heine is suitable for musical settings, because his language is itself incredibly “musical”. Christian Brückner and Michael Wollny are therefore daring to undertake a musical Heine project without turning his texts into songs! Christian Brückner’s unmistakable voice, which most people know as the dubbing voice of Robert de Niro or from many audio books, speaks Heine. And Michael Wollny, the most famous German jazz pianist of his generation, plays music to accompany it. Music that is sometimes background music, sometimes commentary, and always remains an independent musical whole in itself, which (because it is jazz) often speaks about the same topics as Heine. A perfect opportunity to get to know Heinrich Heine in a relaxed way! Not least for those who would avoid a romantic song recital.
Heinrich Heine – “Dream Images”
