Uniting Europe

A fundraiser concert given by Andreas Scholl,
reviewed by TESS CREBBIN

When the celebrated countertenor Andreas Scholl brought out his CD Wayfaring Stranger, it was a risk to venture into new territory but he won over the Anglophone audiences with his dramatically powerful and moving interpretations of specially arranged British and American folk songs. He sang with a lot of soul, probably because he is partial to England and although he is German-born, he managed to come across as very British. This left a taste for more and especially for seeing him perform live.

So it was nice to find out that Scholl was the featured artist for the 24 November 2004 Europamusicale Foundation's fundraising concert in Munich -- the German countertenor's fine voice is coupled with heartfelt sensitivity and the talent for entering deep into the drama of a song -- all the right ingredients to make sure the evening held great promise. That Scholl made his way to Munich especially for a benefit appearance to raise funds for Helmut Pauli's Europamusicale Foundation speaks for Pauli and the idea behind his ambitious project.

Preceding the countertenor's performance was the inevitable number of speeches that go hand in hand with such events and this was where we learned that the main idea behind the foundation is the thought that 'Music is the cultural core that unites Europe'. When he came on stage, Helmut Pauli received a hearty round of applause as a man of vision who has created this significant organisation. The Bavarian State Secretary for Culture, Emilia Franziska Müller who is a former member of the European Parliament, made a fitting point when she said: 'Music is capable of uniting the different cultures and countries of Europe across all boundaries, real and imagined, much more so than politics ever will. In politics, we can disagree about this or that. But in music, we are all of one mind, no matter what our nationality might be.'

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