German Masters Hoot Night
Club de Ville, Aug. 15Hosted by Buzz Moran of the Dionysium, Austin’s smartypants outpost, this benefit for Golden Hornet Project’s Symphony VI (rescheduled for January and rumored to feature a suite by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood) reined in the inner circle of classical misfits. This night was pulled together fairly quickly, but Peter Stopschinski, the Golden Arm Trio, and the Invincible Czars are quick studies and all did perfect waltzes with their German (and, yes, possibly Hungarian and Austrian) forefathers. From behind the piano, Stopschinski urged us to raise our steins (well, bottles) and toast all things Teutonic as audio of someone counting in German played, then launched into some freewheeling versions of Handel and Bach, with some chopped beats added in as background. Golden Arm Trio – in front of the limestone as a quartet this night – tackled Brahms, Handel, and Bach, plus Strauss’ “Blue Danube Waltz,” and finished with an explosive Mozart, GAT taskmaster Graham Reynolds rolling his fists down the keys, drummer Jeremy Bruch octopuslike behind the skins. It was the musical equivalent of the end of a fireworks show, and it’s always a hoot watching Reynolds wordlessly orchestrate his players – he’s sort of like a third-base coach. The Czars, playing as a fivepiece, were a perfect match for Wagner, ratcheting up the metallic tones and indulging in part of one of his more famous pieces (you know, the Star Wars theme), chanting “Kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit” with aplomb. It’s this town’s love affair with the eclectic that made this show schadenfreude-free.
This article appears in August 21 • 2009.