ANNA GEMEINHARDT Curator at the Historical Museum Frankfurt
ANNA ENGEL Conception, dramaturgy and moderation
HELGE HEYNOLD Recitation
DOROTHEE OBERLINGER flute
JONAS ZSCHENDERLEIN violin
DARIA SPIRIDONOVA violin
VLADIMIR WALTHAM violoncello
ALEXANDER VON HEISSEN harpsichord
Works by Vivaldi, Merula, van Eyck and others
Make Frankfurt's city history tangible - by means of museum exhibits, but also associated sounds, images and stories: That's the idea behind the "Salon Frankfurt" concert format, which the Alte Oper Frankfurt and the Historisches Museum Frankfurt have jointly developed.
A delicate wooden birdcage will be the focus of the upcoming edition of Salon Frankfurt on Thursday, February 23, 2023, from 8 p.m. onwards in the Mozart Saal of the Alte Oper. Classified under "Everyday Culture and Household I - Before 1880," the hand-luggage-sized exhibit, built in 1757, is part of the Historical Museum's holdings - and yet it tells a small chapter of Frankfurt history that lasts into the 21st century. For this birdcage accompanied Frankfurt-born Jew Yvonne Hackenbroch into exile in London in 1937. After a successful career as an art expert and curator at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, Yvonne Hackenbroch visited Frankfurt again for the first time in 1990, and her express wish was for the birdcage to return to Frankfurt after her death (2012). The finely crafted wooden cage thus stands not only for captivity, but at least as much for reconciliation, return and a sense of home.
In Salon Frankfurt, this silent witness of the times is brought to life in texts, visual and audio recordings, and in musical contributions. In addition to the fate of the cage owner, the bird worlds also become a theme. Dorothee Oberlinger takes on the virtuoso flute parts with which composers such as Antonio Vivaldi and Tarquinio Merula translated birdsong into music. Jonas Zschenderlein and Daria Spiridonova (violin), Vladimier Waltham (violoncello) and Alexander von Heissen (harpsichord) also take part; Helge Heynold recites the text passages. The historical background is explained by Anna Gemeinhardt, curator at the Historical Museum Frankfurt, and Anna Engel, known from many broadcasts on hr2-kultur and hr-fernsehen, is responsible for conception, dramaturgy and moderation.
