ED2016 5/5 Reviews ED2016 Music Reviews

Barry Humphries’ Weimar Cabaret (Edinburgh International Festival / Barry Humphries / Miaow Miaow / Australian Chamber Orchestra)

By Louise Rodgers | Published on Saturday 13 August 2016

Barry Humphries gave a voice to the many composers and performers who were silenced, then forgotten, by the Weimar Republic in the 1930s. The superb Australian Chamber Orchestra were in 1930s character throughout and, together with cabaret artist Miaow Miaow, combined sex, pathos, musicianship and hilarity, bringing 1930s Jazz-inspired German cabaret to the Usher Hall. The music itself was a combination of Jazz, Second Viennese School and a desire to escape. Mr Humphries’ scholarly narrative was compelling and funny despite the subject’s sadness; he clearly loves this music. The performers were so authentic I felt I had been tapped on the shoulder by the past, and the music felt too effervescent and ingenious to leave the stage so soon.

Usher Hall, 8 Aug.
tw rating 5/5 | [Louise Rodgers]