After the “Celebrity Millionaire Show for LIGHT IN THE DUNKEL” – on December 4th at 11:15 p.m. on ORF 2
Vienna (OTS) – The “kulturMontag” presented by Peter Schneeberger on December 4th, 2023 does not begin until 11:15 p.m. on ORF 2 due to “The Celebrity Millionaire Show for LIGHT IN THE DUNKEL”. December will reopen. The cultural magazine also takes a look behind the scenes of the Vienna State Opera’s new production of “Turandot” with Asmik Grigorian and Jonas Kaufmann, which celebrates its premiere on December 7th. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is also a topic on the occasion of its 75th anniversary, and the new managing director of “Amnesty International Austria” Shoura Zehetner-Hashemi will be live in the studio.
People, animals, attractions – Vienna Museum reopens
When the completely renovated Vienna Museum opens its doors to the public on December 6th, the history of the city will be retold on 3,300 square meters using 1,700 objects. Finally, countless previously unexhibited objects and their stories are now finally getting their well-deserved place in the new permanent exhibition – a journey through the centuries, the focus of which is people in the tension between politics and social structures. Issues such as work, housing, traffic, immigration and ecology determined everyday life then and now. But the bizarre shouldn’t be missing from the panopticon of the city’s history. The heaviest showpiece in the collection, weighing in at 1,700 kilos, has already moved into its new home. A whale sculpture that was the mascot of the former “Zum Walfisch” inn in Vienna’s Prater for more than 60 years. When it was finally demolished in 2013, the owner of the construction and demolition company saved the “animal”. Three years later, Poldi, as he was now christened by the people of Vienna, was finally donated to the Vienna Museum. What is the story behind the illustrious picture “The Miracle Team” that Paul Meissner painted in oil on behalf of Vienna City Councilor for Culture Viktor Matejka in 1948? A testimony to Austrian football history when Austria lost 3: 4 to the overpowering English in 1932? A symbol of the fight between David and Goliath? “kulturMontag” presents first impressions of the Vienna Museum’s new permanent exhibition, which will now be free to visit for everyone in accordance with the English museum model.
Asmik Grigorian and Jonas Kaufmann in “Turandot” – star-studded new production of Puccini’s last work at the Vienna State Opera
“Turandot,” a star-studded Puccini blockbuster as a new production directed by Claus Guth, will be on the Vienna State Opera’s schedule from December 7th. Asmik Grigorian makes her role debut in the role of the ice-cold Chinese princess who has all the men who court her murdered if they cannot solve her three riddles. Audience favorite Jonas Kaufmann, as Prince Calaf, not only conquers his beloved, but also the audience with the popular aria “Nessun Dorma”. It is Giacomo Puccini’s last, unfinished opera, which he began in 1920. Various variants of this Persian story already existed; even Friedrich Schiller had taken on the material. The composer spent four years writing this work; finding the right musical ending is said to have been torture for the hit maker. An endless search that not only resulted in a dispute with the librettists, but also ended abruptly with Puccini’s death, as the passionate smoker died of throat cancer a few days after a throat operation. Franco Alfano, an Italian composer of the late Verismo era, completed the acclaimed work based on Puccini’s sketches and notes, which premiered in 1926 at La Scala in Milan under Arturo Toscanini. An extraordinary fairy tale that the composer set to music at a turning point in music history at the beginning of modernity, which also left musical traces in the opera. “kulturMontag” provides insights into the production that ORF 2 will show on December 16th at 8:15 p.m. In an interview, Asmik Grigorian, Jonas Kaufmann and director Claus Guth talk about the power of love, the demanding parts and why Puccini was already pop.
“This Human World” – 75 years of the Declaration of Human Rights; in the studio: Shoura Zehetner-Hashemi
75 years ago, on December 10, 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris – a resolution that guarantees everyone the same rights, regardless of age, gender, nationality, religion, sexual orientation /Identity or assets. It is an anniversary that is celebrated but not celebrated. In view of global wars and crises – whether in Iran, the Middle East or Ukraine – we experience the dehumanization of human rights and terrorism as an offensive contempt for the basic humanitarian rules established after the Second World War. And we are witnessing how a world order based on these rules is breaking down. For 16 years now, the International Human Rights Film Festival has been shining the spotlight on current hotspots of human rights under the title “This Human World”. This year the focus is on the women’s protests in Iran and the war in Ukraine. The makers want to point out political and social injustices with sensitive and evocative films. To this day there is a deep gap between the demands of the Declaration of Human Rights and the real situation in many of the 147 countries that have recognized it. Were the efforts for a common moral basis among the peoples of the world in vain? Does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights remain an unattainable ideal? What does the future look like and should the Declaration of Human Rights be readjusted after 75 years? To what extent are human rights under pressure when it comes to the issues of asylum and migration? Peter Schneeberger addresses these questions live in the studio in a conversation with Shoura Zehetner-Hashemi, the new managing director of “Amnesty International Austria”, as part of the ORF program focus “75 Years of the Declaration of Human Rights” (details at presse.ORF.at). Reason.