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Film concert 2017

©Deutsches Filminstitut
©Deutsches Filminstitut
©Deutsches Filminstitut
©Deutsches Filminstitut
Hamlet Aufführung in Elmau ©Raimund Kast

SILENT FILM CONCERT WITH LIVE MUSIC

HAMLET 
GERMANY 1920

It is considered the first box-office hit in German cinemas after the First World War: the silent film HAMLET with Asta Nielsen (1882–1972), who not only produced the film but was also cast in the main role of the Prince of Denmark, dressed as a woman. This film is still seen as the greatest film by Asta Nielsen, the first female superstar in the history of cinematography. 

Commissioned by ARTE, Michael Riessler has now gone to great lengths put sound to the film – another sensational project by the native of Ulm. A part of the music is playback by a band which was mixed under the technical direction of Federico Savina, the legendary sound engineer from the magical Italian cinema by Sergio Leone, Nino Rota and Ennio Morricone at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome. 

MICHAEL RIESSLER, born in Ulm in 1957, enjoys a reputation in Germany as a leading crossover artist between modern classic music and contemporary jazz. The clarinettist has been awarded the SWF Jazz Prize, amongst other things, has established an international reputation and has played with musicians such as John Cage, Steve Reich, Karl-Heinz Stockhausen and Zappa drummer Terry Bozzio. Riessler makes appearances at festivals for new music and at international jazz festivals.