Cats and life wisdoms

E.T.A. Hoffmann was one of the most brilliant and wonderful figures that has ever walked the earth. He did exactly what he wanted (specifically writing, composing, and drawing), exactly the way he wanted to do it, and in doing so, didn't care about anyone else’s opinion. Not a tiny bit. And so it should be as an artist. His unique style, a mixture of poetic phantasm, bizarre humor and satire, is still completely irresistible. What's more, underneath all of that, there is, almost secretly, a deep seriousness, and that is exactly what makes his work endlessly fascinating.

His unique style, a mixture of poetic phantasm, bizarre humor and satire, is still completely irresistible

Tonight we honour E.T.A. Hoffmann in several ways. Robert Schumann's piano music is based directly on Hoffmann's 'Fantasiestücke'. Thomas Beijer will not only play these pieces, he will also enhance them with drawings that are artistically wonderful nods to Hoffmann. Especially for this evening, Thomas Beijer composed the theatrical 'Five Life Wisdoms of Tomcat Murr', based on texts by Hoffmann. Finally, Irina Simon-Renes, Ofer Canetti and Thomas Beijer will play the First Trio by Johannes Brahms, who in his younger years was so obsessed with Hoffmann that he signed his letters with 'Johannes Kreisler' - a character of Hoffmann.

Long live this genius weirdo!