euro|topics - Volker Breidecker

09/01/2009

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Breidecker, Volker

2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany | 05/08/2008

Italy's old rubbish

The daily Süddeutsche Zeitung criticises the way Italy is treating its cultural heritage, as a growing number of its cultural assets pass into private hands. "Italy possesses more archaeological, architectural, natural and artistic treasures than any other country in the world. ... Since the rise of the clever cavalier Silvio Berlusconi, who has now appointed the government for the fourth time and whose policies have done irreparable damage to the country's institutions and political culture, there has been ... a dramatic leap - admittedly backwards - in terms of the quality of preservation so that [Italy] is now facing the complete sell-out of its cultural assets. Berlusconi casts himself as a moderniser: the country, he says, should get rid of as much old rubbish as possible. But apparently this includes not only its traditional cultural values and the beauties of Italy's landscape, which are being sacrificed to encroaching commercialisation and privatisation, but also its monuments and cultural assets - particularly in those cases in which they can be turned into lucrative sources of income for the state which then uses the proceeds to fill the gaps in its budget or reward its loyal voters."

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany | 11/12/2006

Estonian singer Siiri Sisask

Volker Breidecker has discovered singer and parliament member Siiri Sisask at the Basel cultural festival Culturescapes, which has dedicated three weeks to Estonia. "When Siiri Sisask, the First Lady of Estonian rock and folk-jazz, sings about a Morgenbaum tree, she accomplishes this with little more than 20 words: In Estonian, the Morgenbaum is called a 'hommikupuu,' and 'hommikupuutarkus' in this vowel-rich and declination-friendly language means 'the wisdom of the Morgenbaum.' Accompanied only, if alluringly, by the light, breathy tones of Carsten Netz on the flute, her voice emerges from the silence and the darkness, syllable for syllable, in a slowly ascending, almost trancelike song, pervaded almost mystically by the charm of its subject. Petite in build but powerful in voice, this singer uses her great timbre and enormous range to express emotions. But she says: 'I know nothing about emotions. I only know colours.'"

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