A failed political experiment that began nearly 100 years ago, the Weimar Republic (1918-1933), still holds considerable fascination for many people, particularly artists. The Republic’s so called ‘Golden Age’ from the mid-1920s was certainly a period of cultural innovation which, because it was utterly smashed by Hitler’s regime, is particularly regretted. One artist fascinated by this era is Barry Humphries. Next month he is reprising his association with the Australian Chamber Orchestra to present their Weimar Cabaret in London, Edinburgh and Boston. For the ACO, it is part of a tour that includes the Gstaad Menuhin Festival where they will be playing the Bachs, JS, CPE & WF, and other repertoire in three distinctive concerts.

The ACO’s Weimar period begins in London with a series of performances in Cadogan Hall from July 29 to August 3 when Humphries joins the Orchestra and cabaret sensation Meow Meow. Before moving to the Edinburgh Festival for more Weimar, the Orchestra makes a side trip to the Tivoli Festival in Copenhagen performing Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with Alice Coote and Stuart Skelton. That program is repeated in Edinburgh at The Queen’s Hall then on to the Usher Hall for more performances of the Weimar Cabaret. The tour concludes at Boston’s Tanglewood Festival. The Weimar influence may be discerned in modern pop music but the combination of Barry Humphries and the ACO is itself reason enough to celebrate.