The Leipzig Book Fair 2025, from 27 to 30 March, was a very special major event both for the book and music city of Leipzig in general and for the Grieg-Begegnungsstätte in particular. Over five consecutive days, we devoted ourselves with concerts, readings and other events above all to the culture of this year's guest country, Norway. More than 300 visitors found their way to Talstrasse 10. Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone involved!
We marked the start of the book fair already on the eve of the official programme, on Tuesday, 25 March, with the ceremonial unveiling of the Grieg portrait by Franz von Lenbach in our music salon. It is thanks to Drs. Rudolf and Gudula Neidert that the painting, originally commissioned by the C. F. Peters music publishing house, has now found its way to Leipzig. By roundabout routes, it had passed from the painter's estate into the couple's private ownership. Now it is "as if it were flying home" – so Rudolf Neidert in his welcoming address at the unveiling. The programme was musically framed by Elisabeth Dingstad – known to some as the first violin of the Grieg Quartet Leipzig – and Elizaveta Blumina, including with the 2nd movement from Grieg's 3rd Violin Sonata, which the composer had dedicated to Franz von Lenbach in 1887.
It continued on Wednesday, 26 March with New Plays from Norway. Actors from the Schauspiel Leipzig recited up to five roles from dramas by Kathrine Nedrejord and Fredrik Brattberg. Thematically, the range stretched from highly political topics such as the situation of the Sami ethnic minority in Norway to social questions discussed at the domestic kitchen table. The organiser NORLA (Norwegian Literature Abroad) – incidentally also the host of the entire guest-country appearance – was very satisfied with a fully occupied music salon.
On Thursday, 27 March there were two special moments at Talstrasse 10. First, in the afternoon, we awaited a distinguished visit from the Norwegian Minister of Culture and Equality, Lubna Jaffery. With a delegation from the Norwegian Ministry of Culture, she visited Talstrasse 10 as part of the official book fair programme, to get to know the Grieg-Begegnungsstätte and the Norwegian reading circle that has been meeting regularly in our rooms since November 2024. Jaffery, a native of Bergen, was impressed by our commitment to Grieg in Leipzig and the great interest in Norwegian culture. In our guest book she wrote the words: "Tusen Takk for et fantastisk besøk tilbake i Griegs tid i Leipzig, hilsen Lubna Jaffery" (A thousand thanks for a fantastic visit and insights into Grieg's time in Leipzig, greetings Lubna Jaffery.)
Not even four hours later, it continued with a reading by the Norwegian jazz pianist and author Ketil Bjørnstad. Grieg fans may know his biographical novel "Ballade in g-Moll" about Edvard Grieg. For the book fair, however, he read from the third volume of his multi-part autobiography "Die Welt, die meine war." Manfred Kaiper moderated the event. To the great delight of the numerous guests, Bjørnstad also played two jazz interludes on our Steinway grand piano, lending the evening a very special character.
On Friday, 28 March, Edition Peters (Faber Music) presented its new editions of Norwegian music, published to coincide with the guest country. Martje Vande Gimste and Jens Wollenschläger performed Grieg's song cycle Haugtussa op. 67. This was followed by pianist and director of the Grieg Museum Troldhaugen Christian Grøvlen with piano music by Grieg's contemporary Agathe Backer Grøndahl. At the subsequent wine reception, the audience was delighted with the new discoveries.
The conclusion of our book fair programme was our salon concert for the month of March, exceptionally held on a Saturday evening. The One Earth Orchestra around clarinettist Ruben Staub presented Grieg in a completely new way: arranged for the line-up of accordion, clarinet, percussion, cello and soprano. Grieg's songs to German texts op. 48 were heard, as well as Ruben Staub's own compositions to texts by the Norwegian poet Rolf Jacobsen. Folk elements also found their way into the programme, such as folk songs from Serbia and the Faroe Islands.