Les Papillons – Staged Concerts
Since 2000, Les Papillons have been elaborating exceptional, impressing and consistently vivid collages of well-known tracks they have borrowed from the archives of the past centuries of music history. What happens if you deprive a classical masterpiece of its seriousness, or if a pop song suddenly sounds like a piece written by Mozart, or if two fundamentally different compositions enter into a dialogue with each other? And what if you are at a complete loss and can’t pin down any of the melody sources at all?
In their adaptations, Giovanni Reber and Michael Giertz mainly draw on one vital emanation of our times: The condensation of things. Everything has to be quick, abundant, compact, and – on top of it – everything has to happen all at once. That’s exactly what Les Papillons will serve you – with one little difference: They do their utmost to restore form and esprit to this everyday chaos of musical impressions. And rest assured, you will certainly not miss out on great fun when listening to the sometimes quiz-like performances!
Les Papillons invite their audience to delve into their multifaceted universe. Engaging in witty playfulness and breath-taking virtuosity, spicing it all up with a pinch of drama and a good ear for a precise timing, they hold up a creative mirror to the world of music, while at the same time making a low bow to it.
2016 Winner of the audience award “Herborner Schlumpeweck”.
2014 Concert program “Patchwork Classics”
2013 Cabaret festival “Die Krönung” in Aadorf: Nomination
as King of Cabaret
2005-15 Les Papillons played in four political satire programs by and
and with Andreas Thiel
2009 Concert program “Concert Phantastique”
2006 Concert program and their first CD release of the program “Mémorïques”
2004 Promotional prize of the Central European Cabaret Prize
2001 first full-length concert in Basel (May 9th, Kuppel)
Les Papillons released their second CD “Le Grand Tour” in 2010 – on the occasion of their 10th anniversary.
Michael Giertz (piano), born 1966
Michael Giertz spent his musical childhood playing the violin. Self-taught on the piano for many years, to his own astonishment he passed the entrance exam to the conservatory in Biel (Switzerland) and studied piano until he was kicked out of school again…. This was followed by basic studies in musicology at the University of Basel. At the same time, his first attempts on stage followed, as a pianist with “Chanson Fatale” and as a violinist with “Music à la Crème”, until he tackled a “funny concert evening” with Giovanni Reber, the unforeseeable consequences of which continue to this day.
Giovanni Reber (violin), born 1981
Giovanni Reber didn’t even try to pass the exams at a university, but started to turn the music world upside down right at the age of 18 with Michael Giertz. He already got a violin in his hand at the age of 4. Later – thanks to his time as a bartender – he found a way to bring his instrument to a young audience and made whole discos dance with his live performances. Today he also works as a musical director for theater groups.