Timna Brauer

The mother desperately tries to wean little Felix off breastfeeding and pacifiers. On his third birthday, the full moon manages to convince the child to reveal all the words he has collected!

Summer season, wedding season!
This time in wonderful Caesarea, one of the grandest harbor cities of the Roman Empire. Posing in front of the ancient walls alongside the stunning author Mirna Funk, who was also wearing a chic brown outfit.
Grand celebrations are always the perfect opportunity to dress up in creative, show-stopping styles: My dress is actually a vintage Jean Paul Gaultier pareo, a large, square piece of stretch fabric that can be wrapped, tied, pulled, and draped around the body however you like. Pure joy!
The sculptural, airy straw hat is my latest acquisition from PCNQ, a Japanese handmade hat brand crafted in Tokyo, after all, we must treat ourselves sometimes.
The necklace and earrings were designed by my father. Ever since I was a little girl, I loved nothing more than dressing up and playing with fashion; we should feed our inner child as often as possible!

Mirna Funk

Ecstasy & Joy: Last year, I had the pleasure of giving a concert as part of the “Jewish Weekends” festival at the beautifully renovated former synagogue in St. Pölten, Lower Austria. Unfortunately, virtually the entire Jewish community there was decimated by the N***s. This made it all the more fitting for me to perform the rousing songs and dances of my Jewish-Yemeni ancestors. They were also received with great enthusiasm by the audience.

Photographer Sacha Osaka actually managed to capture me mid-air as I leaped from the stool onto the stage, immortalizing me as a shaman in a trance. When I praised him for it, he said he knew what he was doing because he had been married to a shaman from Haiti for many years. Long live ecstasy and joy in remembrance of the former Jewish life in this city.

© Sascha Osaka osaka.at / Jewish Weekends

"Geschichten ohne Worte": the third scene from FELIX DER WÖRTERSAMMLER, a mini opera for children!

"Felix der Wörtersammler" Part 3: Geschichten ohne Worte – The Bird Shaman | Children's Opera Some stories need no words at all. 🕊️"Geschichten ohne Worte" (St...

“Shana Tova!“

“Rosh Hashanah,” the “Head of the Year,” is the Jewish New Year. This year we’re already celebrating the year 5787! It is said that the Messiah is supposed to come before the year 6000; after that comes the 7th millennium, like Shabbat, a time of rest, with bright prospects!

Many devout Jews empty their pockets into the sea or a river around this holiday. This tradition goes back to the prophet Micah 7:9: “And you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” Mostly small stones, symbolizing the hard heart that one wishes to cast off from the past year. The devout man in my father’s oil painting is also practicing “Tashlich,” the act of casting away. A happy and sweet New Year, Shana Nova umetuka, to all the children of humanity and all living creatures in the world!

The mother’s friends try to comfort her, little Felix doesn’t speak but he sings to himself all the time, and you can make wonderful music even without words: the bird shaman from the rainforest imitates the sounds of wild animals, the jazz singer from Harlem shines with her s**t singing “Schubidubi.” And every day, the grandfather takes the child on a wild ride through the park on roller skates.

“Red Kiss” to Franz Schubert

A colorful flower bed to set the mood just before the piano concert by the wonderful Igor Levit at the Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv. It was also an opportunity to debut my new red silk dress from the fashion label CHRISTIAN PEAU: high-quality, handcrafted, avant-garde Japanese fashion with a European touch. Among other pieces, Igor Levit brilliantly performed the challenging Piano Sonata No. 20 in A major, which Franz Schubert composed shortly before his death. It demands an enormous amount of artistic and mental stamina. The audience cheered.

His recital in Tel Aviv was his first concert in Israel since October 7, and he performed it without any fee, all proceeds went to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s educational program for young people. “I don’t want a cent for my concerts in Israel,” he said, adding that this would remain the case as long as he was in mourning. Overall, Levit is regarded as a pianist who never views music as mere technical dexterity, but rather as a means of expression with ethical and social dimensions. An attitude that is also reflected in his choice of this particular Schubert program for Tel Aviv. To counter the backlash facing the Jewish community, he initiated the event “Against Silence. Against Antisemitism” at the Berliner Ensemble. Thank you, Igor!

Igor Levit
CHRISTIAN PEAU

My Premiere of „Felix, the word collector“ - a mini-opera bufa with monologues, recitatives, songs, ballads, and ensembles. I wrote and composed it on commission from the Kuddelmuddel Children’s Cultural Center, inspired by a story by Wolfgang Hermann. It is about a little boy who doesn’t speak because he collects words so that he can give them all to his mother at once. Based on an oil painting I did a few years ago, which serves as the backdrop, these three ladies step out of the painting using a morphing technique and perform on stage.