Stefanie Heinzmann und Mikis Takeover Ensemble – 02.12.2023 – Alte Oper Frankfurt

On December 3, Pass Events held the first concert in its special PASS Late Year Benefiz concert series, featuring Stefanie Heinzmann and Mikis Takeover! Ensemble at the Alte Oper Frankfurt. It was a fitting setting for this opening. It was the 20th edition of the charity event, and this year the Reiner Meutsch Foundation Fly & Help will support the construction of a school in Malawi, Africa. Afterwards, there was an after-show party where SHAKE and Jennifer Braun heated up the atmosphere. If you would like to find out more about this year’s project, you can do so here. The audience at the Alte Oper was shown a short film providing more details. In addition to the 20th anniversary, this year also marks Stefanie Heinzmann’s 15th stage anniversary and the 10th anniversary of the Mikis Takeover! Ensemble.

After a short welcome and speech by the managing director of PASS Events GmbH, Ms. Fernau-Rienecker, the musicians around Miki Kekenj came on stage and played part of a symphony by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as an intro. In her speech, Ms. Fernau-Rienecker mentioned that two additional singers would accompany Stefanie in the first part of the concert, especially for Frankfurt, and that she would be supported in the second part by members of her band, Pat Fa (drums) and Ephraim Salzmann (percussion and hammered dulcimer). Both musicians have been accompanying her for years and have become very good friends. But back to the concert itself. First, Color of my Heart was played, with the ensemble starting and Stefanie then walking over to her bar stool-like chair while singing. A very nice start to the evening. What was special was that Miki and Stefanie always talked a little after each song, sometimes seriously, sometimes joking with each other, and always saying something about the next song. After the first song, she also greeted the audience and expressed how happy and honored she was to be able to sing this concert in such a setting as the Alte Oper. However, she also admitted that she was not yet completely relaxed after the first song. She also apologized to the audience in advance for turning around to face the ensemble, because she found it so fascinating to be accompanied by them and wanted to watch the musicians play, which prompted Miki to suggest that she might need a swivel chair for the next concert. The second song was Not at All, Stefanie’s first request for the concert series. The clarinetist played a humorous role with her interpretation. For the next song, the clarinetist, violinist, and violist sang along, creating a vocal sextet. The fifth song of the evening, I Don’t Know How to Hurt You, began with a very beautiful cello intro, and Labyrinth, the last track before the intermission, featured an intro from a famous 80s series, which will not be revealed here, but was immediately recognizable. This was followed by a 30-minute intermission.

After the break, Pat and Ephraim joined them on stage. Ephraim had spent the break fine-tuning his hammered dulcimer to ensure everything was perfect. It was immediately apparent that the second half would be a little less subdued, not only because of the drums, but also because the double bass player had switched to an electric bass. They played Shadows, for which Stefanie stood with the two singers for the first time and several audience members jumped up to dance. This was followed by Bigger and You Get Me, before Pat took a break for Little Universe. Here she showed how powerful her voice is and how long she can hold a note, which was extremely impressive and led to long applause. The next song was announced with “This would be a moment, I know it’s comfortable, but standing is better.” It was In the End, which really did get everyone out of their seats, clapping and dancing along. It was an atmosphere that you rarely see at the Alte Oper. After Best Life, the second half came to an end and the musicians left the stage to thunderous applause and calls for an encore. An encore was then given, which was announced with a smile as an improvisation. It was All We Need Is Love, where the audience was also involved and asked to sing the chorus, which worked very well. At the end, the now customary pop/rock crowd photo was taken, even though Stefanie said, “I know you don’t do that in classical music, but I’d like to take a photo with you for my diary.” And so, after more than two hours, a wonderful evening came to an end. The concert series will continue on January 26 in Bremen without Pat and Ephraim.