Munich folk singer stage
The Münchner Volkssänger-Bühne e. V. (short: MVB) is a theater in Munich. It mainly plays newly staged classics in Bavarian dialect and feels obliged to preserve the tradition of Munich folk singers .
historical development
Idea, foundation and first successes
In the early 1960s, the founder of the Valentin Museum , Hannes König , worried about the continued existence of the Bavarian language. He wanted to counter the impending cultural impoverishment by founding a “Bavarian People's Theater”. During a Valentin exhibition on the Auer Dult , the idea of a new folk singer theater was born. The idea inspired Hannes König and the tower scribes ' group of authors who were based in the Isartorturm . Theater-obsessed friends were quickly made and the Munich folk singer stage was founded.
Lola Ammerlander, Georg (Schorsch) Blädel (son of the well-known Hans Blädel from the "d'Krähwinklern", known from the Royal Bavarian District Court and a brilliant Karl Valentin actor), Sepp Rankl, Thomas Herrmann, Gustl Ehm (Star the "Donnersberger Bierhallen"), Seffi Braun (the famous German master yodeler) and Wiggerl Schneider Senior (the zither king) - all old folk singers with a long tradition, whose parents and sometimes grandparents had been on the pub boards. They brought in their old skits, couplets and plays. Hannes König tried to find a suitable restaurant that met the requirements of a folk singer stage. It couldn't be too far from the residential areas and had to have a small raised stage and changing rooms. It should also have hosted folk singers as early as possible. The Franziskaner-Keller on Hochstrasse fulfilled all of these conditions. In November 1961 a new era of folk singer theater started with the play "Glück und Ende des Matthias Klostermayr - vulgo Boarischer Hiasl". Hanns Vogel and Hannes König directed and brought the stage great success.
Venue in the "Apollo"
The ensemble was not granted a long stay in the Franziskaner-Keller. Due to structural changes, it had to move out and found a new place to stay in the "Apollo", an old "folk singer stronghold" on Dachauer Strasse. Everything that had rank and name in the folk singers guild was already on the boards here and so the “Münchner Volkssänger-Theater” had a respectable breeding ground on which it could develop successfully.
Hannes König reworked the well-known theme of the " Schmied von Kochel " for his ensemble into "The Jägerwirt, a Bavarian dance of death around 1705, the murder Christmas of Sendling ". The opening of the new season of the Volkssängerbühne in “Apollo” started with great success. But even here they could not find a permanent home. Frictions with the landlord because of the high power consumption, the low turnover - it was common for the audience to eat and drink during the game - and not least because of the necessary renovations, forced Hannes König again to look for new accommodation for his people.
Venue in the Max Emanuel Brewery
This time the ensemble was lucky under the board of Rudi Scheibengraber, Manfred Bosch, Helmut Esterl and Ernst Roscher. The Max Emanuel Brewery in Maxvorstadt on Adalbertstrasse , also a well-established folk singer establishment, took up the troupe and was able to stay there for several decades. Liesl Karlstadt was already a guest there with the important "Gum Kaufmann Ensemble" with " Kabale und Liebe ".
The small stage was enough to let the " Lady of the Camellias " die and to let the people of Munich shudder year after year with the tragedy "The miller and his child".
The piece "The miller and his child"
This play, previously performed annually on All Saints 'Day and All Souls ' Day as a memorial play, was resurrected in 1965 at the suggestion of the writer Ernst Hoferichter. Hoferichter promised to donate a bronze bust of King Ludwig II , if it succeeds, the play “The miller and his Child ”to perform. He said that Karl Valentin visited this play every year, often twice in one day (one of the usual afternoon performances and then the evening performance on a comedian stage in Haidhausen in the “city of Orleans”), “because ma do so schee woana kon”. The Volkssängerbühne played this traditional piece by Ernst Raupach for over 40 years on All Saints' Day. Ernst Raupach, a contemporary of Goethe and Schiller , wrote 130 pieces that were performed at the Prussian court stages in his time. Only “The miller and his child” could be torn from oblivion. Egon Friedell says of Raupach's "Müller", who is often dismissed as kitsch : "Only German professorial arrogance can reject this piece, which has been stirring parquet and gallery alike for 100 years!"
The piece was tailored and shortened by Hannes König to suit contemporary theater tastes and embellished with a brass band, chorales and sensitive tunes.
A star of this production was Franz Baumgartner , who was awarded the silver tz rose in 1984 and 1995 for the role of the gravedigger Jon.
Establishment of the registered association
At that time the troop had grown to around 25 people and it was considered whether it would not be appropriate to found a registered association with statutes. The name “Münchner Volkssänger-Bühne e. V. “was quickly found and Rudi Scheibengraber, a Munich original who also made a name for himself throughout Bavaria through the fight against fraudulent beer serving (co-founder of the" Association against fraudulent pouring "), was the chairman of the newly founded association. In addition to the many legal advantages that a registered club has, it strengthened the team-mates' feeling of togetherness.
Further successes and high demands
The popular poaching drama " Jennerwein " followed as the next piece after the association was founded. The author Hannes König examined the historical background that led to the unique popularity of the " Jennerwein " case . For him it was important to show the political background of the time with wit, political expertise and his own socially critical attitude - built into a rural, peasant environment.
Back then, as now, the audience was a cross-section of Munich society. Hannes König maintained good relationships with the directors of Munich's municipal and state theaters , with writers and the public media.
Re-performance of the Peasant Hamlet
An old text book from 1854 by the Seebrucker Bauerntheater in Chiemgau gave the Munich folk singer stage the impetus to perform the play “The mad prince of Denmark or the punished fratricide”. Shakespeare's play, stamped "classic", turned out to be a great folk play. Playable and accepted by a group of people who would never go to a state or city theater to see Shakespeare. One attraction was that the main role was cast by a woman. That was not particularly new, as Klara Ziegler, Sarah Bernhardt, and Asta Nielsen played this coveted trouser role many years ago, which prompted an evil critic to write at the time: "The ladies are now getting roses, they do it with trouser rolls!"
After the premiere of “Mad Prince Hamlet ”, artistic director August Everding then said to Hannes König, based on Goethe: “I envy you three things - the choice of your pieces, your audience and the enthusiasm of your actors!”
The MVB plays brought the lives of Bavarian folk heroes onto the stage and the audience learned many stories that could not be read in the history books.
The fairy tale of the fairy tale king and other popular pieces
The Volkssängerbühne achieved particular success with the play Das Märchen vom Märchenkönig Ludwig II. This play was based on documents that ran counter to the popular notion of the tragic fall of the Bavarian king. According to this, the king tore himself away from Bernhard von Gudden to escape, but fatal shots are fired at the king from a nearby bush. Gudden then commits suicide.
After the game, there were heated discussions in the audience. A complaint from the House of Wittelsbach and the descendants of Gudden "ennobled" this view of what was happening, and approval from the family of the First Royal Adjutant Türkheim conveyed the feeling of having come close to the truth.
Another change of venue and generation change
After 35 years of uninterrupted work in the Max Emanuel Brewery, the MVB had to change premises. Thanks to the great commitment of the then board member Roland Roder, the MVB found a new home in the Hofbräukeller in 2000 . However, the last curtain fell here after 5 years as the hall was expanded and the stage had to give way.
In keeping with the Bavarian nature, a generation change has taken place very slowly in recent years, still cushioned by the ancestors. Christian Brantl took over the chairmanship for 5 years and gave the stage their new home in Gut Nederling.
He was then replaced by Roland Beier, who had previously been artistic director and gave the stage a new look. The administration of the finances remained in the hands of the Esterl family, who had been well proven over decades.
To mark its 40th anniversary, the Valentin Museum dedicated an exhibition to the MVB.
After the Theater Gut Nederling finally closed its doors in 2016, the MVB had to look for a new place to stay after 10 years. She found this now in the Small Theater in Haar.
repertoire
"Classic" in Bavarian
A specialty of the Munich folk singer stage are classics in Bavarian like the aforementioned Hamlet , the mad Prince of Denemarkt based on Shakespeare , Da Hoderlumpensparifankerl ( Lumpazivagabundus ) based on Nestroy, Die Räuber freely based on Schiller , Figaro's wedding , Die Dreizehnerloper , a mirror image of Munich's Gschwerl by Fritz Heider based on Bert Brecht's Dreigroschenoper , Drama Dama based on Karl Meisl, Der unruly Bavarian Taming based on Shakespeare by Herbert Rosendorfer, 2009 Orpheus and other sloppy relationships based on Hector Crémieux , music based on Jacques Offenbach and, most recently, Die Jedermann , by Roland Beier based on the well-known mystery play .
Pieces played
- 1961 The robber barons in front of Munich
- 1962 The Bavarian Hiasl
- 1963 The blacksmith from Kochel
- 1964 - November 1, 1965–2004: The miller and his child, played every year
- 1966 The Wildschütz Jennerwein
- 1967 The robber barons in front of Munich
- 1968–1969 Ludwig II - The fairy tale of the fairy tale king
- 1970 Hamlet or the insane Prince of Denemarkt
- 1971 Hamlet - guest performance in Vienna
- 1972 The Wildschütz Jennerwein
- 1973 The Bavarian Hiasl
- 1974 s'Haberfeldtreib
- 1975 The robber barons in front of Munich
- 1976 The oide Count von Schroffenstein
- 1977/78 The Wildschütz Jennerwein
- 1978 Hamlet or the insane Prince of Denemarkt
- 1979/80 The miller and his seemingly dead child
- 1980 Ludwig II - The fairy tale of the fairy tale king
- 1981/82 Da Faust in Schliersee
- 1983 The robber barons in front of Munich
- 1984 The blacksmith from Kochel
- 1985 Lumpazivagabundus
- 1986 The robbers
- 1987 D'Pharisäa
- 1988/89 The noble Count of Schroffenstein
- 1990 The ring of the Bavarian
- 1991 The Wildschütz Jennerwein
- 1992 The robber barons in front of Munich
- 1993 The Dreizehnerloper
- 1994 Since Faust in Schliersee
- 1995 Hamlet or the insane Prince of Denemarkt
- 1996 I'm going to the comedian
- 1997 The Rauberpfaff
- 1998 cult Kini Ludwig II
- 1999 The Taming of the Shrew in Bavaria
- 2000 The Ring of the Bajuwaren
- 2001 thirteen looper
- 2002 Figaro's wedding
- 2003 As a Hoderlumpensparifankerl
- 2004 Be or not be
- 2005 Boarisch guad
- 2006 Since Faust
- 2007 Vui Noise for Scherm
- 2008 drama dama
- 2009 Orpheus and other sloppy relationships
- 2010 The Jedermann
- 2011 Tristan and be Oide
- 2012 And the woman buck forever
- 2013 Sometimes things go stupid
- 2014 Romeo Oh Romeo
- 2015 Boandlkramerblues
- 2016 summer night nightmare
- 2017 Macbeth
- 2018 Wa (h) re men
- 2019 Ludwig 2.0 reloaded
- 2020 D'Weißwurschtprinzessin
swell
- Archive of the Munich folk singer stage
- Archive of the Valentin Museum