Berlioz, Bach, and Berlin

Getting ready to start day 4 here in Berlin. Tonight is our first concert with the Berlin Phil. They are a set of fabulous, fabulous players. (I didn't know an English horn could sound so beautiful!) However, they play lots behind the beat, so it's not always together. And since the majority of the chorus charges on at "tempo de Robert Shaw", another layer of complication is added. Hopefully this matter will work itself out on both ends. Steve is attending tomorrow night. He usually jests that the symphony doesn't have enough drums for him. Well, he will LOVE the part where FOUR brass blast from different sides of the hall and FIVE timpani players beat their paukens as loud as they possibly can! (It's quite exciting; I must admit.) Still, I'd be OK to not see the Berlioz Requiem for a long time after this week. First, it has no alto part. Berlioz wrote it for soprano, tenor, and bass. I'm tired of trying to sing triple pianissimo out of my range. Six hours in rehearsal on the same piece is a bit dull (unless it's Bach). Which brings me to my next thing.

Tomorrow Steve and I are taking the train to Leipzig. I'm so excited I could jump out of my skin! Leipzig is where Bach worked most of his life; where he wrote the majority of his church music and Passions. He is buried in the Thomaskirche. I will go pay homage to the greatest composer of all time. When I get home, I have to learn the A2 part in the b-minor Mass and the choir 1 part in St. Matthew (as well as review St. John). We're singing these at the Bach Festival in June-July. What a pleasure. It simply doesn't get better than singing Bach.

Bach to Berlin... Steve posted the picture of the Holocaust Memorial. That is a creepy, creepy sight. You walk down in between those blocks and feel instantly lost and claustrophobic. The blocks are an erie combination of barriers and crypts. A new American embassy in Berlin will be dedicated on July 4th here. It is on the corner between the Brandenburg Gate and Holocaust Memorial, right along the area where the wall used to be. I was thinking last night (and now) how Berlin is, in some ways, a bit of a downer. WWII...the Holocaust...the Berlin Wall. Wow. Lots of reminders here of the worst division and destruction the human race has practiced.

Today we're going to the German history museum. I'm going to focus on the Reformation exhibit. Now there's some division I can get behind. :)