Konzert - Ein Abend mit Balladen und Romanzen

An "Evening with Ballads and Romances" Julia Vikman as a Guest in the Synagogue Wittlich

There is a musical tradition that is seldom heard in the West: the Eastern European chanson. Songs by poets and composers who — like Jacques Brel or Édith Piaf once did — have moved entire generations with just a few chords and an honest word.

The singer, pianist, and guitarist Julia Vikman brings this tradition to life. Her program combines the unforgettable melodies of the Polish icon Anna German, the passionate depth of Czesław Niemen, the poetic melancholy of Bulat Okudzhawa — the singer-songwriter and poet known in the East as Jacques Brel is in the West — the authentic bardic power of Zhanna Bichevskaya, as well as the expressive songs of Vladimir Vysotsky.

Among them are melodies that have long been known and loved in the West: “Black Eyes” (including in the interpretation of the great German baritone Hermann Prey), the original version of the global hit “Those Were the Days” — an old Russian romance that Alexander Vertinsky sang in the 1920s and which reached number 1 on the European charts in 1968, produced by Paul McCartney and sung by Mary Hopkin — “Heart in the Snow” by Mikael Tariverdiev (a composer often compared to Ennio Morricone in the West), romances based on verses by Rudyard Kipling (“The Bumblebee” / “Мохнатый шмель”) as well as “Capricious Horses” (“Кони привередливые”) by Vladimir Vysotsky, known from the Hollywood film “White Nights – The Night of Decision” (1985) directed by Taylor Hackford with Mikhail Baryshnikov in the lead role.

Julia Vikman performs these songs with deep authenticity. With German-Polish-Swedish roots, classical piano training at the music academy, and as the daughter of opera director Paweł Vikman, who personally knew Bulat Okudzhawa and accompanied his concert tours, she stands firmly in this European tradition. She has already shared the stage with Polish legends like Maryla Rodowicz, Budka Suflera, and Czerwone Gitary and has been a long-time guest at the international Okudzhawa festivals in Poland.

Doors open: 6.30 p.m.