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Knipphals, Dirk
3 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
The Anna Netrebko show in Berlin
Dirk Knipphals describes the opening night of the opera 'Manon' by Jules Massenet at Berlin's Staatsoper. "You'll have a tough time finding someone who cherishes the illusion of witnessing a major operatic event. People know exactly what they want: the big Anna Netrebko show. And that's exactly what they get - at the very highest level of consumer culture with all its advantages and disadvantages. The main disadvantage is that the production is very reticent in its interpretation of Jules Massenet's opera. To put it mildly, it consists basically of making sure there's a lot of movement and effects when Anna Netrebko and her duet partner Rolando Villazón are offstage and then focussing everything on the stars when they're onstage... Anna Netrebko really gives all she's got. She's not an unattainable, temperamental diva; rather she gives the impression of being the hardest-working female in the entire production, and you have to admire her for producing all these emotions yet making it all seem so brilliant and effortless."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Music, » Stage, » Germany
Where is woman's place in politics ?
Dirk Knipphals reflects on how women in power conduct themselves. According to Knipphals, Angela Merkel adopts a reserved stance, neither trying to conceal her womanhood nor making a show of it: "This is why so far there are no iconic images of Merkel that have femininity and power as their theme. Nor, I dare to speculate, will there be any in future. Regardless of what you may think of her politics: after a generation of alpha males like Gerhard Schröder and Joschka Fischer, Merkel has been able to dispel all the question marks about gender, power and branding surrounding her person within a short period of time. Schröder and Fischer were much manlier than Merkel is womanly now. It may well be that as the first woman in this office, it doesn't work any other way. It also may be that despite her CDU party card Merkel is fashionably unisex. Nowadays the image of ruler is regarded as strange anyway."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Global
Review of the Frankfurt Book Fair
Dirk Knipphals takes stock of the Frankfurt Book Fair, which ended on Sunday. "At least it was in keeping with the literary tradition that appears to have established itself over the past ten years at the book fair. And the results of these ten years are now reinforcing the fair's internal structure. A tendency towards consolidation is making itself felt in many areas. As far as authors are concerned, this was not a fair for those launching their first books but for those who were on to their third or fourth book. Many of the authors – Dietmar Dath, Katharina Hacker, Gregor Hens, Christoph Peters, Tobias Hülswitt, Feridun Zaimoglu, Thomas Hettche – made their debut in the mid-1990s and are now well-established names, so that reviewers have to examine their books closely to check for quality. Simply calling a book 'new' is no longer an automatic seal of quality."
» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Literature, » Trade, » Germany
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