Helmut Qualtinger - Der Qualtinger - Ein kabarettistisches Porträt

Helmut Qualtinger (born October 8, 1928 in Vienna, Austria; died September 29, 1986 in Vienna) quit university to become a newspaper reporter and film critic for local press, while beginning to write texts for cabaret performances and theater plays. Qualtinger debuted as an actor at a student theater and attended the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar as a guest student.
Beginning in 1947, he appeared in cabaret performances. In 1949, Qualtinger's first theatrical play, "Jugend vor den Schranken", was staged in Graz. Up to 1960, he collaborated on various cabaret programmes with the nameless Ensemble (Gerhard Bronner, Carl Merz, Louise Martini, Peter Wehle, Georg Kreisler, Michael Kehlmann).

Qualtinger was famous for his practical jokes. In 1951, he managed to launch a false report in several newspapers announcing a visit to Vienna of a (fictional) famous Inuit poet named Kobuk. The reporters who assembled a the railroad station however were to witness Qualtinger, in fur coat and cap, stepping from the train. Asked about his "first impressions of Vienna", the "Inuit poet" commented in broad Viennese dialect, "It's hot here."

The album "Der Qualtinger - Ein kabarettistisches Porträt" is a good overview, presenting highlights by Helmut Qualtinger, often in colaboration with Gerhard Bronner and Carl Merz, recorded between 1956 and 1960.

Helmut Qualtinger - Der Qualtinger - Ein kabarettistisches Porträt

(192 kbps, cover art included)