Video: Jonas Kaufmann and Take That in Udo Jürgens farewell show
mainThe great Austrian entertainer, who died in mid-tour on Sunday, made his final TV appearance last night on Helene Fischer’s show in the company of Jonas Kaufmann and Take That.
The violin soloist is Julian Rachli n.
I would love to know more about his autobiography: “Der Mann mit dem Fagott.” (I don’t read German, alas.) Why bassoon?
The Man with the Bassoon was a family biography beginning with his grandfather achieving success as a banker in Russia before WW1. It also tells of his father’s time during WW2 and his own early years seeking a musical career. This went against his family’s wishes to remain in the family business.
Udo’s family name was Bockelmann and they were a well known and distinguished family.
The bassoon in question refers to the carved statuette of a man playing a bassoon which was first acquired during those Russian years. It was supposed to have brought luck.
It brought to mind the grandfather’s experience of hearing a street musician playing the bassoon at a Bremen Christmas market shortly before emigrating to Russia at the beginning of the 1890s. He would later meet the musician again during the war in 1915 in Moscow.
It is a fine book and was also made into a two part TV film for German TV in 2011.