Devid Striesow & Markus BeckerTexts and Music on DarknessNocturnal Poetry and Prose From Novalis and Heine to Strindberg and Kaleko in dialogue with Bach's Goldberg Variations and improvisations on the piano. The romantic dream world of Heine and Novalis, the urban poetry of Mascha Kaleko, Strindberg's paranoia, Kafka's insomnia, Beckett's surreal monologues, Freud's dream interpretation – they paint a picture of the night as a space for fantasies, nightmares, longings, protection or vulnerability as a counter-world to daily business, as a projection of fear, happiness, death and love, and as a symbol for all our dark sides.Bach's Goldberg Variations, composed about three hundred years ago as an epochal commissioned work for entertainment during nocturnal insomnia – enter into a close dialogue with the texts, sometimes as a musical twin, sometimes in contradiction, sometimes in mutual penetration, sometimes transformed improvisationally.Markus Becker is one of the most versatile pianists of his generation. He studied with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and received important impulses from Alfred Brendel. As a soloist and chamber musician, he works with renowned orchestras and artists; his Reger recordings have received numerous awards. He is a professor at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media.Devid Striesow was a member of the ensemble at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus and regularly performs at the Hamburger Schauspielhaus. He can currently be seen in "Oedipus" and the ancient cycle "Anthropolis," followed by its continuation "Fremde Sonne" in the fall. He became known through films such as "The Lives of Others," "Yella," and "The Counterfeiters." In addition to theater, film, and television, he is a sought-after narrator for readings and audiobooks.
