Also: “zeit.geschichte” evening on the SS, “soft drinks” put to the test in the “ORF III Theme Monday” and much more – from May 6th to 12th, 2024
Vienna (OTS) – “ORF III Theme Monday”: “Soft Drinks” and Talk “Endless Sugar”
Rising temperatures and more and more hot days: Sales of hip soft drinks are also increasing at the same time. The “ORF III Theme Monday” on May 6th will take a closer look at this highly competitive market with the new production “Soft Drinks – the Check” (8:15 p.m.) and check which promises the domestic beverage producers can keep. In addition, ORF III shows the documentaries “Soft Drinks, Hard Truths” (9:05 p.m.) and “Healthkiller Energy Drink” (9:55 p.m.) about the ingredients they contain and their effect on the human body. Finally, the “Talk: Endless Sugar” (10:30 p.m.) highlights its harmfulness and why many people are unable to get rid of the sweet temptation. Hans Bürger discusses this with Birgit Beck (nutritionist and consumer advocate), Fritz fahrer (molecular biologist), Gerhard Höllinger (apple juice producer) and Anna Abermann (fruit juice manufacturer Pona).
“MERYN on Monday”: “Hormones changing”
This time “MERYN on Monday” (6.45 p.m.) is about “hormones in transition”. While the menopause is hardly noticeable in around a third of women, another third is affected by serious symptoms such as hot flashes, sleep disorders and hair loss. What measures can be taken to alleviate the symptoms? When is hormone replacement therapy advisable? What role do your own lifestyle habits play during the time of change and how can your own well-being be increased during this phase? ORF III health expert Siegfried Meryn answers these and other questions together with gynecologist and hormone specialist Johannes Huber.
“Experience Stage LIVE”: “Europe celebrates Beethoven” – ORF III celebrates with us
On May 7, 1824, Ludwig van Beethoven’s now world-famous 9th Symphony was premiered in Vienna. As a musical prelude to an ORF TV focus on the 200th anniversary, ORF III will broadcast the entire work as interpreted by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra live and time-shifted from the Great Hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus on the anniversary, May 7, 2024, at 8:15 p.m. ORF III will thus become part of a unique European television project: On May 7th, ARTE will present the four movements of Beethoven’s “Ninth” live, one after the other, with a time delay from four European cities, performed by four top orchestras, each under top-class musical direction. ORF III and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra contribute the famous last movement from the Vienna Konzerthaus. In the final movement, Rachel Willis-Sørensen, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, Andreas Schager and Christof Flammesser sing in the solo parts as well as the choir of the Vienna Singing Academy under the direction of Heinz Ferlesch. The designated chief conductor of the Vienna Symphony, Petr Popelka, will be at the podium.
A “Culture Today Special” (7.45 p.m.) and the “Experience Stage” program “Beethoven’s Ninth – The Countdown is on” (8 p.m.) will get you in the mood for the big European concert event. Barbara Rett goes on a journey through Vienna and traces the eventful history of the creation of the symphony.
After the musical highlight, there is “Humor according to Notes: Otto Schenk” (9:35 p.m.) and “Laughing Successes with Otto Schenk and Helmuth Lohner” (10:30 p.m.).
“Festival of Joy 2024” for “Liberation Day”: May 8th on ORF III
May 8th is a day of joy over the end of the Nazi reign of terror and the Second World War in Europe. Austria remembers, above all, the millions of people who were persecuted and murdered. ORF III is broadcasting live from Vienna’s Heldenplatz the 12th “Festival of Joy”, which has been organized annually since 2013 by the Austrian Mauthausen Committee with the support of the Jewish Community, the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance and the Memorial Service Association. After the “ceremonial act” (8:00 p.m.) with greetings from, among others, Federal President Alexander van der Bellen and the speech by Holocaust survivor Rosa Schneeberger, the “celebratory concert” (8:15 p.m.) follows with chamber music ensembles from the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. The evening will be moderated by Katharina Stemberger.
In addition, numerous “zeit.geschichte” documentaries on the end of the Second World War are on the program on “Liberation Day” from 8:35 a.m. A new ORF III production portrays the recently deceased “contemporary witness and journalistic legend” Hella Pick (6.20 p.m.), who came to Great Britain from Austria on a Kindertransport in 1939 as a ten-year-old, experienced a remarkable career advancement there and ultimately became the leading international correspondent at “Guardian” became. Over the course of her career, Pick reported on world political events and met important personalities such as Willy Brandt, John F. Kennedy and Winston Churchill. From the late 1990s onwards, her books about Simon Wiesenthal and post-war Austria’s dealings with the Nazi past brought her back to her native country more and more often. This is followed by the documentary “Against Orders – Civil Courage at the End of the Second World War” (7:05 p.m.). After the “Festival of Joy”, the day of remembrance will conclude with the “zeit.geschichte” two-part series “Continent of Expellees – Europe after the War” from 9.30 p.m.
Audrey Hepburn’s 95th birthday: “My Fair Lady” and “A sweet brat”
On Thursday, May 9th, ORF III will honor acting icon Audrey Hepburn on her 95th birthday with two musical film adaptations from the 1950s and 1960s: “My Fair Lady” (8:15 p.m.) from 1964 with Hepburn as the flower girl Eliza Doolittle Rex Harrison’s side and then the 1957 production “A Sweet Fratz” (11:05 p.m.) with Fred Astaire, in which Hepburn sings all the songs himself.
“zeit.geschichte” afternoon on the Nazis’ central instrument of power and oppression
The Schutzstaffel, or SS for short, is the epitome of terror and death during the Nazi regime. The “zeit.geschichte” evening on Saturday, May 11th will shed light on many aspects of this horrific unit with the series “The SS – Power and Myth”. The first film “Terror” (8:15 p.m.) shows the development of the Schutzstaffel from the party’s security service to an all-encompassing instrument of terror and repression. In episode two “War” (9:05 p.m.) it becomes clear how the Waffen-SS is stylized into a military elite by Nazi propaganda:
Himmler deliberately spreads the image of his men as hardened “super soldiers”. The SS Death’s Head Associations are responsible for ensuring that things run smoothly in the camps. The documentary “Totenkopf” (9:55 p.m.) shows how many young men are asked to use violence against the camp prisoners as part of their training in order to grow into this task. The fourth film “Täterjagd” (10:45 p.m.) makes it clear how many members of the SS went into hiding after 1945. They want to build new lives for themselves in South America or Germany, and they often succeed. Finally, the films “Himmler” (11:35 p.m.) and “Heydrich” (12:25 a.m.) portray two central personalities of this torture and killing machine.
Classic on Sunday: Jonas Kaufmann from Verona
“Experience Stage” presents a concert by star tenor Jonas Kaufmann “From the Arena di Verona” (8:15 p.m.) on Sunday, May 12th. Also guests on the stage of the world-famous amphitheater are soprano Sonya Yoncheva and baritone Ludovic Tézier. The open-air event’s program includes well-known arias and duets from Giuseppe Verdi’s “Otello”, Umberto Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier” and Giacomo Puccini’s “Turandot”, as well as popular pieces from Leonard Bernstein’s musical “West Side Story” and popular hits from the world of film music by Ennio Morricone and Hans Zimmer.
Further details about the ORF III Culture and Information program are available at tv.ORF.at/orf3.