Oeuvre: Jonny spielt auf

A rare revival of Ernst Krenek's breakout opera hits all the wrong notes.

Barry Humphries’ Weimar Cabaret – a witty, urbane valentine to the musical culture of Germany in the 1920s and 30s, from the opera house to the concert hall to Berlin’s revues and cabarets.

When one sees the word “Erotica” in connection with classical music, one is usually safe in assuming that it’s a misprint in the title of Beethoven’s Third Symphony. And yet, at the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s concert on Saturday, it was no Freudian slip: Erwin Schulhoff’s Sonata Erotica, which the composer suggestively marked “nur für Herren” (for men only), was on the program.