Mnozil Brass »Strau$$« // Symphony Hall Birmingham
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Strau$$ – A little dance between two stools
The fact that the waltz-soaked ‘Duidu, Duidu’ and its laid-back counterpart ‘Dudidubidu’ are actually just a stone’s throw apart – not much more than ‘a warm embracing dance away’ – has been clear to the masters of Mnozil Brass for ages. For more than thirty years now, these seven heavyweights have been gliding back and forth with the utmost ease and their sparkling brass instruments between Johann Strauss and Frank Sinatra, between Shostakovich and Prince, or – with particular passion – from Schubert over to their kindred spirits in Queen. They care just as little for the solemn grandeur of one side as they do for the supposed banality of the other. But Strauss – whom Brahms, Wagner and Verdi, as well as tradesmen and girls from the suburbs (and even a Gershwin) adored fervently – was the forefather of this nonchalant straddling of genres. Strauss was the first to churn out hits by the metre; he hired an arranger so he could work faster and realised that, together with his brothers, he could reproduce his sound worldwide. He was the first to blur the lines between highbrow and lowbrow and, as the ‘Waltz King’, became a mass phenomenon – the cash registers never jingled sweeter. In *Strau$$*, Mnozil Brass now reveal absolutely everything about Strau$$. Even the very last detail.
In the end, nothing remains but the naked truth.
A commissioned project by Johann Strauss 2025 Vienna
The fact that the waltz-soaked ‘Duidu, Duidu’ and its laid-back counterpart ‘Dudidubidu’ are actually just a stone’s throw apart – not much more than ‘a warm embracing dance away’ – has been clear to the masters of Mnozil Brass for ages. For more than thirty years now, these seven heavyweights have been gliding back and forth with the utmost ease and their sparkling brass instruments between Johann Strauss and Frank Sinatra, between Shostakovich and Prince, or – with particular passion – from Schubert over to their kindred spirits in Queen. They care just as little for the solemn grandeur of one side as they do for the supposed banality of the other. But Strauss – whom Brahms, Wagner and Verdi, as well as tradesmen and girls from the suburbs (and even a Gershwin) adored fervently – was the forefather of this nonchalant straddling of genres. Strauss was the first to churn out hits by the metre; he hired an arranger so he could work faster and realised that, together with his brothers, he could reproduce his sound worldwide. He was the first to blur the lines between highbrow and lowbrow and, as the ‘Waltz King’, became a mass phenomenon – the cash registers never jingled sweeter. In *Strau$$*, Mnozil Brass now reveal absolutely everything about Strau$$. Even the very last detail.
In the end, nothing remains but the naked truth.
A commissioned project by Johann Strauss 2025 Vienna
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Where is it happening?
ICC Birmingham Symphony Hall, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Host or PublisherMnozil Brass
