Camerata Variabile — The Queen Was not Amused

Queen Victoria was not known for her sense of humor, and the famous saying “We are not amused” in response to someone unsuccessfully trying to tell a joke in her presence is often attributed to her. Regardless of the special case of the Queen herself, the British have often proved that laughing instead of crying is a perfectly legitimate and effective survival strategy. The Viennese are also famous for their morbid sense of humor: both Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's and Joseph Haydn's music is full of wit and ambiguity. Swiss composer Jürg Wyttenbach from Bern was certainly the Swiss champion in this field, and Helena Winkelman learned from him. Her two works, the breakneck “Praelu-Duell” and the string quartet “Papa Haydn's Parrot” about Haydn's “Bird Quartet,” are prime examples of this. Wyttenbach's subversive setting of “5 little poems for a singing violinist” is followed by a brief intermezzo—Mozart's Duos for Natural Horns. These highly virtuosic and risky pieces promise, perhaps unintentionally, many amusing elements. By contrast, Mozart's “Musikalischer Spass” (Musical Fun), which he wrote shortly after the death of his father, is full of intentional, brilliantly staged musical wit. What a fitting homage to perhaps the best (and arguably the strictest) music teacher of this era. And perhaps there really is humor here, born of the unbearable.
Tickets are CHF 40 for adults and CHF 20 for youths under 18 and students.
Website
garedunord.ch/en/calendar/2893/the-queen-was-not-amused
Where
Gare du Nord
Schwarzwaldallee 200
4058 Basel