Karl L. Holz is the current President for Disney Cruise Line as of February 14, 2009. Holz was moved back to his former role as part of the corporate merger of Disney Cruise Line and New Vacation Operations.^[1] Previously he was President of New Vacation Operations and chairman and CEO of Euro Disney SCA, the company that oversees Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France.

Holz oversees four cruise ships, the Disney Magic, Disney Wonder, Disney Dream, and the Disney Fantasy along with Disney's private Island Castaway Cay. His responsibilities for DCL include shipboard operations, purchasing and logistics, entertainment, programming and operations integration, risk management, marine and technical operations and shoreside travel operations.^[2]

Career[link]

Earlier in his tenure with Disney, Holz served as senior vice president of operations at Walt Disney World Resort before being promoted to president of Disney Cruise Line. In 2004 Holz became chief operating officer at Euro Disney SCA, and in May 2005 was promoted after André Lacroix resigned.

Born in Hinzweiler, Germany, he is married to his college sweetheart, Wendy. Both are graduates of SUNY Fredonia, class of 1973. Holz gave the 2011 commencement address at SUNY Fredonia.^[3] The couple have two children.

References[link]

Karl Valentin (born Valentin Ludwig Fey, 4 June 1882, Munich - 9 February 1948, Planegg, Germany) was a Bavarian comedian, cabaret performer, clown, author and film producer. He had significant influence on German Weimar culture. Valentin starred in many silent films in the 1920s, and was sometimes called the "Charlie Chaplin of Germany".^[1]

Early work[link]

Karl Valentin came from a reasonably well-off middle-class family; his father had a partnership in a furniture-transport business. Valentin first worked as a carpenter's apprentice, and this experience proved useful in the construction of his sets and props later in life. In 1902, he began his comic career, enrolling for three months at a variety school in Munich, under the guidance of Hermann Strebel. His first job as a performer was at the Zeughaus in Nürnberg (Nuremberg). In the wake of his father's death Valentin took three-year break from performing, during which he constructed his own twenty-piece one-man band (with which he eventually toured in 1906).^[2]

Soon Valentin was performing regularly in the cabarets and beerhalls of München (Munich). He developed a reputation for writing and performing short comic routines, which he performed in a strong Bavarian dialect, usually with his female partner, Liesl Karlstadt. Valentin also made numerous films, both silent and with audio;^[3] but it was as a stage performer in cabarets that Valentin built a reputation as one of the leading comic performers in Germany during the Weimar Republic.^[4]

With Bertolt Brecht[link]

In 1923, Valentin appeared in a half-hour, slapstick film entitled Mysteries of a Barbershop (Mysterien eines Friseursalons).^[5]

The film script was written by Bertolt Brecht, directed by Erich Engel, and also featured Valentin's cabaret partner, Liesl Karlstadt, as well as an ensemble of stage, film, and cabaret performers, including Max Schreck, Erwin Faber, Josef Eichheim, and Blandine Ebinger. Although the film was not immediately released after it was completed in February 1923, it has come to be recognized as one of the one hundred most important films in the history of German filmmaking.^[6]

The previous year, 1922, Bertolt Brecht, had appeared with Valentin and Karlstadt in a photo of Valentin's spoof of Munich's Octoberfest.^[7] Brecht regularly watched Valentin perform his cabaret routines in Munich's beerhalls, and compared him to Chaplin, not least for his "virtually complete rejection of mimicry and cheap psychology."^[8]

Brecht wrote:

But the man he [Brecht writes of himself in the third person] learnt most from was the clown Valentin, who performed in a beer-hall. He did short sketches in which he played refractory employees, orchestral musicians or photographers, who hated their employer and made him look ridiculous. The employer was played by his partner, a popular woman comedian who used to pad herself out and speak in a deep bass voice. When the Augsburger [Brecht] was producing his first play, which included a thirty minutes' battle, he asked Valentin what he ought to do with the soldiers. 'What are the soldiers like in battle?' Valentin promptly answered: 'They're pale. Scared shitless.'^[9]

This anecdote has become significant in the history of German theatre, since it was Valentin's idea of applying chalk to the faces of Brecht's actors in his production of Edward II that Brecht located the germ of his conception of 'epic theatre'.^[10]

Performance style[link]

Valentin's naïve sense of humour produced sketches that in spirit were loosely connected to dadaism, social expressionism and the Neue Sachlichkeit. Along with Karl Kraus, he is considered a master of gallows humor.^[11] His art centered mostly around linguistic dexterity and wordplay—Valentin was a linguistic anarchist. His comedy would often begin with a simple misunderstanding, on which he would insist as the sketch progressed.^[12] The notable critic Alfred Kerr praised him as a Wortzerklauberer, or someone who tears apart words and language to forcefully extract and dissect its inherent meaning.^{[citation needed]} His sketches often parodied and derided "shopkeepers, firemen, military band players, professionals with small roles in the economy and the defence of society".^[13]

Many contemporary artists, including film-maker Herbert Achternbusch and Christoph Schlingensief ("Valentin is one of the greatest for me!"), trace their artistic roots back to Karl Valentin.^{[citation needed]}

Museum[link]

In 1959 based on private initiative the Valentin-Musäum was established in the Isartor in Munich. This museum shows absurdities from parts of his inheritance.

Available works[link]

Films on DVD[link]

• Karl Valentin and Liesl Karlstadt: Die Kurzfilme (The Short Films, 3 DVDs), Munich 2002, Publisher Film101
• Karl Valentin and Liesl Karlstadt: Die Spielfilme (The Game Movies, 3 DVDs), Munich 2004, Publisher Film101
• Karl Valentin and Liesl Karlstadt: Die beliebtesten Kurzfilme (The most popular short films), Munich 2006, Publisher Film101
• Karl Valentin and Liesl Karlstadt: Die Kurzfilme – Neuedition (The Short Films - new edition, 3 DVDs) Munich 2008, Publisher Film101

Complete Works[link]

Complete Works in 8 volumes. Edited by Helmut Bach Maier and Manfred Faust. Munich: Piper.

• Volume 1: Monologe und Soloszenen (monologues and solo scenes). 309 p. - ISBN 3-492-03401-2
• Vol 2: Couplets, 424 p. ISBN 3-492-03402-0
• Vol 3: Szenen (scenes). 388 p., 1995. ISBN 3-492-03403-9
• Vol 4: Dialoge (dialogues). 485 p. - 1995. ISBN 3-492-03404-7
• Vol 5: Stücke (Pieces). 557 p. - 1997. – ISBN 3-492-03408-X
• Vol 6: Briefe (Letters). 379 p. - 1991. – ISBN 3-492-03406-3
• Vol 7: Autobiographisches und Vermischtes (Autobiographical and Miscellaneous). 400 p. 1996. ISBN 3-492-03407-1
• Vol 8: Filme und Filmprojekte (Films and film projects). 618 p. - 1995. ISBN 3-492-03405-5
• Dokumente, Nachträge, Register (Documents, amendments and register). 277 p. - 1997. – ISBN 3-492-03977-4

Works cited[link]

• Benjamin, Walter. 1983. Understanding Brecht. Trans. Anna Bostock. London and New York: Verso. ISBN 0-902308-99-8.
• Brecht, Bertolt. 1965. The Messingkauf Dialogues. Trans. John Willett. Bertolt Brecht: Plays, Poetry, Prose Ser. London: Methuen, 1985. ISBN 0-413-38890-5.
• Calandra, Denis. 2003. "Karl Valentin and Bertolt Brecht." In Popular Theatre: A Sourcebook. Ed. Joel Schechter. Worlds of Performance Ser. London and New York: Routledge. p.189-201. ISBN 0-415-25830-8.
• Horwitz, Kurt "Karl Valentin in einer anderen Zeit," Stürzflüge im Zuschauerraum (Munich, Piper Verlag, 1970), pp. 16-17
• McDowell, W. Stuart. 1977. "A Brecht-Valentin Production: Mysteries of a Barbershop", in Performing Arts Journal, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Winter, 1977), pp. 2-14.
• McDowell, W. Stuart. 2000. “Acting Brecht: The Munich Years," in The Brecht Sourcebook, Carol Martin, Henry Bial, editors (Routledge, 2000) p. 71 - 83.
• Schechter, Joel. 1994. "Brecht's Clowns: Man is Man and After". In Thomson and Sacks (1994, 68-78).
• Thomson, Peter and Glendyr Sacks, eds. 1994. The Cambridge Companion to Brecht. Cambridge Companions to Literature Ser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-41446-6.
• Willett, John. 1967. The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht: A Study from Eight Aspects. Third rev. ed. London: Methuen, 1977. ISBN 0-413-34360-X.
• Willett, John and Ralph Manheim. 1970. Introduction. In Collected Plays: One by Bertolt Brecht. Ed. John Willett and Ralph Manheim. Bertolt Brecht: Plays, Poetry and Prose Ser. London: Methuen. ISBN 0-416-03280-X. p.vii-xvii.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Karl Valentin Museum in Isartor, Munich
• Official Karl Valentin Page (german)
• You’ll Laugh, You’ll Cry
• Karl Valentin at Internet Movie Database
• Filmportal.de at www.filmportal.de

Christian Thielemann (born 1 April 1959, in Berlin) is a German conductor.

Career[link]

Thielemann studied viola and piano at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin and took private lessons in composition and conducting before becoming répétiteur aged 19 at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with Heinrich Hollreiser^[1] and working as Herbert von Karajan's assistant.^[2] He worked at a number of smaller German theatres including the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen, in Karlsruhe, Hanover, at Düsseldorf's Deutsche Oper am Rhein as First Kapellmeister and in Nürnberg as Generalmusikdirektor before returning to the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 1991 to conduct Wagner's Lohengrin.^[3] During this time he also assisted Daniel Barenboim at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.

His 1991/92 season debut in the United States, conducting a new production of Strauss' Elektra in San Francisco was soon followed by engagements at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In 1997, he became Generalmusikdirektor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. A report in 2000 stated that Thielemann was to leave the Deutsche Oper in 2001 over artistic conflicts with the then-incoming artistic director Udo Zimmermann.^[4] Thielemann remained with the company until 2004, when he resigned over conflicts regarding Berlin city funding between the Deutsche Oper and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden.^[5]

Thielemann became principal conductor and music director of the Munich Philharmonic in September 2004. He is scheduled to step down from his Munich post in 2011, after disputes with orchestra management over final approval of selection of guest conductors and programs for the orchestra.^[6] In October 2009, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden announced the appointment of Thielemann as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2012/13 season.^[7]

Thielemann is a regular conductor at the Bayreuth and the Salzburg Festivals^[8] and he has been guest conductor at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the Royal Opera House in London, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Vienna State Opera.^[3] With the decision in September 2008 of the Richard Wagner Festival Foundation to appoint Katharina Wagner and Eva Wagner-Pasquier to succeed Wolfgang Wagner as directors of the Bayreuth Festival, Thielemann was named Musical Advisor,^[9] effectively the Festival's music director.^[10]

He came into confrontation with both of Berlin's other leading conductors, Daniel Barenboim and Simon Rattle. Relations with Barenboim were tense after anti-semitic remarks were attributed in 2000 to Thielemann and subsequently denied.^[11]. With Rattle, the rivalry was commercial. Thielemann's 2010 New Year's Eve concert from Dresden drew a larger television audience than Rattle's from Berlin^[12] and the German conductor was quick to step in when Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic withdrew in 2011 from their long-standing involvement in the Salzburg Easter Festival.^[13]

In 2003, Thielemann was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesverdienstkreuz).^[14] He is regarded as the leading exponent of the Austro-Germanic conducting tradition, in the manner of Wilhelm Furtwängler and Karajan.^[15][16] In October 2011, he received honorary membership of the Royal Academy of Music in London, a controversial appointment since he rarely conducted in the UK.^[17]

Recordings[link]

For Profil

• Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 8, Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, October 2010

For Opus Arte

• Richard Wagner, Der Ring des Nibelungen with Michelle Breedt, Albert Dohmen, Stephen Gould, Hans-Peter König, Linda Watson and Eva-Maria Westbroek, Bayreuth Festival orchestra, recorded live during the 2008 Festival, November 2009

For Brilliant Classics

• Arnold Schoenberg, Richard Wagner, Pelleas und Melisande and Siegfried Idyll, Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, November 2009

For Decca

• Richard Strauss, Der Rosenkavalier DVD with Renée Fleming, Sophie Koch, Diana Damrau, Franz Hawlata and Jonas Kaufmann, Munich Philharmonic, October 2009

For Deutsche Grammophon

• Der kleine Hörsaal, Dirigieren mit Christian Thielemann, July 2007
• Ludwig van Beethoven, Overture "Egmont" and Johannes Brahms, Symphony No.1, Munich Philharmonic, April 2007
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Requiem, Munich Philharmonic and Choir of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, November 2006
• Richard Wagner, Parsifal, Choir and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, April 2006
• Anton Bruckner, Symphony No.5, Munich Philharmonic, March 2005
• Heinrich Marschner, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Carl Otto Nicolai, Carl Maria von Weber, Richard Wagner, Overtures, Vienna Philharmonic, October 2004
• Richard Wagner, Tristan und Isolde, Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, May 2004
• Richard Strauss, Ein Heldenleben and Symphonic Fantasy of Die Frau ohne Schatten, Vienna Philharmonic, August 2003
• Albert Lortzing, Richard Strauss, Carl Maria von Weber, Richard Wagner, Deutsche Opernarien with Thomas Quasthoff and the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, April 2002
• Robert Schumann, Symphonies No.1 and No.4, Philharmonia Orchestra, 2001
• Richard Strauss, Arabella with Kiri Te Kanawa and the Orchestra and Choir of the Metropolitan Opera, March 2001
• Richard Strauss, Eine Alpensinfonie and Suite of Der Rosenkavalier, Vienna Philharmonic, March 2001
• Arnold Schoenberg, Pelleas und Melisande and Richard Wagner, Siegfried Idyll, June 1999
• Carl Orff, Carmina Burana, Choir and Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, May 1999
• Robert Schumann, Symphony No.3 "Rheinische", Overture "Genoveva", op. 81, Overture, Scherzo and Finale, op. 52, Philharmonia Orchestra, 1999
• Richard Wagner, Orchestra Music (Lohengrin, Parsifal, Tristan und Isolde), Philadelphia Orchestra, February 1998
• Robert Schumann, Symphony No.2, Overture Manfred, Concert for 4 Horns, op. 86, Philharmonia Orchestra, September 1997
• Ludwig van Beethoven, Funeral Cantata on the Death of the Emperor Joseph II, Robert Schumann, Konzertstück op. 86 for 4 Horns and Orchestra, Hans Pfitzner, Palestrina (Preludes to acts 1 and 2), 1997
• Hans Pfitzner, Music from Palestrina; Das Käthchen von Heilbronn; Richard Strauss, Guntram (prelude), Capriccio (prelude), Feuersnot (love scene), Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, 1996

For EMI Classics

• Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, Arias by René Kollo, Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, 1992

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Kläre Warnecke: Christian Thielemann – Ein Porträt. Henschel Verlag Berlin 2003. ISBN 3-89487-465-1
• Kilian Heck/Christian Thielemann (ed.): Friedrichstein. Das Schloß der Grafen von Dönhoff in Ostpreußen. Deutscher Kunstverlag, München und Berlin 2006. ISBN 3-422-06593-8

External links[link]

• Thielemann's blog
• Thielemann biography
• Christian Thielemann by KlassikAkzente
• Christian Thielemann Biography in cosmopolis.ch
• Interview with Christian Thielemann by Bruce Duffie, March 12, 1993