VietNamNet Bridge – Frank Wolff, a German celloist, will have only one performance at the Goethe Hanoi Institute, 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Hanoi, at 8pm, November 15.

GErman celloist Frank Wolff

Wolff has performed in many countries, and this is his second time in Hanoi, with the last time being in 1996.

For over 50 years Frank Wolff has traveled with his cello, not only throughout the world, but also through many epochs of musical history, from Johann Sebastian Bach through the European Classical and Romantic periods to Jimi Hendrix and John Cage.

In the process he has also developed his own poetic tonal palette with the cello, which at times is related to Asian tones. His solo program tells of his varied experiences and is as much a journey through time as it is a trip around the world. The sounds are transformed, old music sounds like something new, or a new tone as if it is from an older time. The musical itinerary moves from Europe to America and Asia and also touches down in Vietnam, where Frank Wolff previously performed in 1996.

Born in 1945, shortly after the war, and christened by his father, a recently-released POW, with the hope-filled names Frank und Friedrich – free and peaceful!

Frank Wolff has played cello since his childhood in rural Hessen, Germany. He studied music in Freiburg, then philosophy with Adorno in Frankfurt. In 1967 he dedicated himself to the student revolution and became its spokesperson in West Germany. Further cello studies followed, as well as membership in an avant-garde ensemble and a Berlin string quartet. With his return to Frankfurt in ‘Deutsche Herbst’ 1977, Frank Wolff developed his first ‘concert collages’: “Franks tönende Wochenschau”, which also included his “Deutschlandlied,” dedicated to Jimi Hendrix and Joseph Haydn, then “Schubert doesn’t live here anymore” and “Winterreise Frühlingstraum”.

In 1991 he founded the Frankfurter Kurorchester. In 1997 came his world tour with Anne Bärenz and “Heinrich Heine in Concert,” as well as several duo projects. The programs “Attacca” and “Shanghai-Show” were created in 2002 with young artists in the Neuen Frankfurter Schulorchester. In addition, for many years in various solo projects with new sounds and overtone techniques, Frank Wolff has developed poetic tone paintings such as “Mein blaues Cello,” “Frisch gestrichen,” and “Frank & Frei.”

Frank Wolff has appeared all over the world with the unforgettable Anne Bärenz and the former Frankfurter Kurorchester. In April 2008 he played the Extra-Program So Klingt Frankfurt in the Chinese partner city of Kanton with musicians from Africa, Brazil, the USA and China, all living in Frankfurt.

Entrance to the upcoming show at the Goethe Institute is free.

PV