With Monti Beton

Now Hans Krankl is also making the State Opera unsafe!

Hans Krankl in front of the Vienna State Opera(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

The Austro cover band Monti Beton will soon have been on stage with Johann K. for 20 years - the group and Hans Krankl vulgo Johann K. will be celebrating this with a guest performance at the Vienna State Opera on July 5 to mark the 2025 anniversary!

"I've arrived where I belong," said the former striker at a press conference on Wednesday. "It's the stage where my two friends José Carreras and Placido Domingo perform. Now I've opened up."

The State Opera is "a bit" like the Camp Nou in soccer, the stadium of FC Barcelona, said Krankl. Toni Matosic, who is responsible for the vocals at Monti Beton together with the "Goleador" and Thomas Schreiber, added: "This great setting and the occasion is something special, so we said we would invite everyone in our area. We're sure to have a wonderful evening. And I can already say: it's going to be hot."

"And a poar Italiena perhaps ..."
Monti Beton are known for their interpretation of hits from the 60s and 70s, as well as local pop gems. What will you get to hear at the opera? "A best-of", emphasized Krankl. "'Waterloo Sunset' by the Kinks is a must." "And a poar Italiena perhaps ...", added Matosic. "That of course! But also Elvis," said Krankl. "Elvis Presley and the Beatles always have to be there. Together with the Kinks, they belong to our three foundations of music," Schreiber noted.

As if that wasn't enough, they are celebrating their premiere in New York. A friend who lives there is organizing a charity concert in the Big Apple. "It will take place on the 'Intrepid', an old aircraft carrier, now a museum. Around 1000 people will go on board. It's a dress rehearsal for the opera." That's "totally cool", said Krankl. "We've already played at a few good venues, in Jesolo ... A performance in Barcelona is also in the works."

"The best thing for me is always the Christmas concert!"
Matosic cited a performance in front of UN soldiers on Mount Hermon in the Golan at 2,800 meters as a highlight of his 20 years together with Johann K. "You don't get there every day, not at all today." Schreiber: "You don't get to the Danube Island Festival every day either, where we played on the main stage in front of the EAV in front of what felt like 60,000, 70,000 in 2012." And Krankl: "The best thing for me is always the Christmas concert at the Metropol. The last song is always 'Feliz Navidad', it makes my skin crawl, because then it's Christmas."

-(Bild: Amanda Clare Peniston-Bird)

"I once went on stage with my pants open!"
When asked about possible hoppalas in recent years, Krankl said dryly and then laughed: "This is a band that makes virtually no mistakes. Zero mistakes, you can't say that about other bands." And if you miss your cue or make another faux pas, it is integrated into the program with a joke, Schreiber grinned. Matosic recalled: "I once went on stage in a tuxedo with my pants open. Professional as we are, Hans immediately reported it into the microphone." Krankl: "That was that, I helped him. Something could have happened."

Anyone who not only wants to sing Krankl, but also read him, can now pick up the book "Lustig war's immer". Rainer Pariasek and Eric Sebach have written down stories, life wisdoms and waffle from Krankl and Herbert Prohaska in conversation on the beach in Jesolo.