Bodo Wartke

• Name — Bodo Wartke • Born — 21 May 1977 • Birthplace — Hamburg, West Germany • Occupation — Cabaret artist, pianist, singer-songwriter, actor • Years Active — 1996–present

Wartke was born in Hamburg and grew up in Reinbek and Bad Schwartau. He completed his Abitur at the Leibniz-Gymnasium in Bad Schwartau in 1996 and subsequently performed civilian service at the Städtisches Krankenhaus Süd in Lübeck. In 1997, he began studying physics in Berlin, but changed after two semesters to music education at the Berlin University of the Arts. From 1998 to 2004, he was a member of SAGO, the academy for poetry and music founded by Christof Stählin, and he is a graduate of the Celler Schule. Wartke lives in Berlin-Kreuzberg and has one son.

• Illustration — Wartke at a climate strike in Leipzig in 2019 Wartke gave his first full-length concert on 16 November 1996 at his former school. He became known as a musical cabaret artist who usually accompanies himself on the grand piano. In addition to piano, he also uses instruments such as the ukulele, cajón and harmonica. His lyrics are mostly in German and are characterized by rhyme, humour, satire and wordplay. He has created several full-length piano cabaret programmes, including Ich denke, also sing ich, Achillesverse, Noah war ein Archetyp, Klaviersdelikte, Was, wenn doch?, Wandelmut and Wunderpunkt. He tours regularly in the German-speaking world and performs several programmes in parallel. A recurring topic in Wartke's songs is love, treated both humorously and seriously. One of his best-known pieces is Liebeslied, a song consisting of short stanzas in many languages. By 2011, Wartke had 88 language versions in his repertoire, including German dialects and constructed languages such as Esperanto, Sindarin, Quenya and Klingon. His songs also address political and social topics. Nicht in meinem Namen criticizes religious extremism, while Hambacher Wald opposes the clearing of the Hambach Forest.

Classical music is a recurring element in Wartke's work. His programme Noah war ein Archetyp includes Alla Turca Stomp, an adaptation of Mozart's rondo from the Piano Sonata No. 11. His programmes also include references to works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Arnold Schoenberg, Friedrich Schiller and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Wartke has also written and performed modern rhymed adaptations of Greek tragedies. His one-man play König Ödipus, based on the myth of Oedipus, premiered in 2009. His adaptation of Antigone, written with Carmen Kalisch and director Sven Schütze, premiered at the Schmidt Theater in Hamburg on 9 April 2018 and was performed by Wartke and Melanie Haupt. The filmed version of Antigone was released in 2019 and received the rating besonders wertvoll from the Deutsche Film- und Medienbewertung. The adaptation was later used in teaching material published by the Westermann Gruppe.

In 2012, Wartke began performing Swingende Notwendigkeit, a swing programme with The Capital Dance Orchestra. In 2021, he performed Jetzt oder Sinfonie! with the WDR Funkhausorchester, which was released as a live album. Since 2022, Wartke has also toured with the SchönenGutenA-Band, whose members had collaborated with him since the programme Noah war ein Archetyp.

In late 2023, Wartke and music producer Marti Fischer created the novelty song Barbara's Rhubarb Bar (German: Barbaras Rhabarberbar), based on a German tongue twister. Wartke wrote the lyrics, while Fischer produced the music. The song became an international viral phenomenon in 2024, especially on TikTok, where it inspired a dance trend. The New York Times reported that the music video received more than 47 million TikTok views within a few months and briefly ranked above Beyoncé on some streaming music charts. The trend was also covered by international media including Sky News and Forbes. The single reached number 16 on the German Single Trending Charts on 24 May 2024.

• Ich denke also sing ich • Achillesverse • Noah war ein Archetyp • König Ödipus • Klaviersdelikte • Swingende Notwendigkeit • Was, wenn doch? • Antigone • Wandelmut • Jetzt oder Sinfonie! • In guter Begleitung • Wunderpunkt