mon 08.01.

21:00 Michael Langer & Stephan Maaß Duo

Increasingly, you hear it being said that our Austria resembles a theater, although comments on the quality of the stage operations vary according to the changing moods of the theater operators; their momentary sorrows, worries, plights and frustrations. To some extent, this assertion is correct: Austria can claim some impressive theater statistics. For one, the Vienna State Opera is the largest opera house in the German-speaking environment (total audience: 2,209) and its ball is the most famous opera ball in the world (with tickets costing up to ATS 70,000 per box, this is the only evening in which the opera makes a profit). The Steintheater at Hellbrunn palace is Europe's oldest open air garden stage and the world's largest lake-stage stands over the water at Bregenz (with seating for 4,323). Europe's largest nature stage -- 100m. wide and with a l km-deep playing surface -- spreads out across Leitrachstätten, in Austria's Innviertel, and "The last days of humanity" (Die letzten Tage der Menschheit - vor Karl Kraus), a tragedy written by an Austrian playwright, with its 220 scenes and over 500 characters, is probably the world's most comprehensive play. Furthermore, the theater fanatics among Austria's youth form the world's largest theater membership (the youth theater or Theater der Jugend has a membership of 55,681)! Onstage at Porgy & Bess, Michael Langer and Stephan Maaß will be performing an duel for us of theatrical proportions; a multicultural, musicological fencing match with plenty of reversals, upsets and triumphs. En garde! RD

Admission: ATS 120.-

PORGY & BESS, SPIEGELGASSE 2, 1010 WIEN, TEL: 512 84 38