Swakop goes crazy over Pianotainment
The German piano duo, Pianotainment, had Swakopmunders roaring on Sunday afternoon with their animated, masterful command of their shared instrument.
Pianotainment is the perfect symbiosis of creative piano comedy and a virtuoso piano concert. With their unusual four-handed arrangements and a lot of humour, the two pianists and entertainers, Marcel Dorn and Stephan Weh created a fantastic concert experience, something not seen regularly in Swakopmund.
The audience in Swakopmund frenetically applauded the two show musicians from Pianotainment after witnessing a high-class and diverse Matinee concert on Sunday 6 November in the NPS Kulturaula. The event was presented by the German Embassy and the Swakopmund Arts Association.
With their wit and charm, the two pianists from the Allgäu Region in Germany entranced both young and old and presented their audience with an action-packed show around the piano. Sometimes playing with two hands, sometimes with four hands or even backwards, they created a fantastic concert experience!
Highlights of the concert were “For Elise” as a lounge version, the “Flight of the Bumble Bee” at record speed or different variations of the “Chopsticks” (“Flohwalzer”) – one in the manner of Mozart, a Bach version and a Rachmaninoff interpretation.
While the two are playing, a camera projects the keys onto the wall to show the virtuosity and finger acrobatics of the pianists. Dance, song, film music, puns, photos, caricatures, grimaces and fooling around, all become part of the mix.
Twenty nimble fingers running up and down 88 polished piano keys, combined with loads of puns and a very professional presentation, are what drive the Pianotainment show.
That this was highly appreciated by the Swakop audience was only too apparent
Both Dorn and Weh received an extensive classical piano education from their early childhood before they taught themselves Jazz and Blues.
Many concert tours took the two artists to China, Peru, Iran, Jamaica and Namibia among others in a career that spans 20 years on the stage.
