Coffeehouse of Vanities

An evening filled with sound, stories, and nostalgic charm.

Program:
Among the aroma of freshly ground coffee, the soft clink of delicate cups, and hushed conversations at small marble tables, there once emerged a world brimming with music and poetry. European coffeehouses, especially in Vienna, Paris, and Prague, were around 1900 the second living room or waiting room for countless writers, musicians, and creative minds.

As piano melodies filled the space, painters debated colors, poets jotted thoughts into notebooks, and composers drew inspiration from the city's rhythm and the unique atmosphere of the cafés. Between candlelight and stacks of newspapers, stories, melodies, and artworks were born-works that resonate to this day.

Writers like Tucholsky, Altenberg, and K. Kraus, along with Beethoven, Mahler, Satie, Chopin, and Hollaender were passionate coffeehouse devotees. Three artists-Catharina Marquet (vocals), Mona Creutzer (recitation), and Galina Ryzhikova (piano)-weave music and text together in an entertaining and spirited way, capturing this cosmos of creativity and human nature on a journey through coffeehouse culture-at times contemplative, at times graceful and light.