I apologize for :
a) not keeping up with the Berlin posts in real-time, as we had intended. I blame Dunkel.
b) interrupting the upkeep of Berlin posts, as it destroys continuity, but this is important news:
Today we received word of our official login date (LID)! It was:
April 29, 2008.
This is the day we officially hit the books in China. We're in the system now, and all we can do is cross our fingers and wait. In the meantime, we're going to try to remember what happened the other 2 days in Berlin and post them.
But not now.
Right now we're in Charleston, SC, gearing up for Wanda's performance with the New Trinity Baroque ensemble during Piccolo Spoletto. She's giving two concerts, one on Sunday at 3 PM and one on Monday at 3 PM. If you're in the area, drop by! I got to listen to her practice on the way down to Charleston from Atlanta, and I can tell you, it's going to be a stupendous experience!
Friday, May 23, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
the rest of the story...Berlin, two and 1/2 months later...
I had to remove this posting. Send me an e-mail and I'll explain why!
A Magical Day
It's corny sounding, but it's true. We had a good breakfast and went in a herd of 10 or so friends to the Berlin Zoo, located a 10 minute walk from our hotel. I think I've always loved zoos, and the Berlin zoo is just beautiful. We spent the better part of the morning and early afternoon there, after which we went to visit the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, which we actually saw on our first trip to Berlin in 2003, but it made such a powerful impression on us that we had to go back again. It's just as beautiful now as it was then.
From there to capitalistic KaDeWe, shopping Mecca and standard for all things West before (and even after) the Wall came down. We had a lovely lunch on the top level cafeteria, and then straggled back to the hotel to decompress a bit before our opening night concert.
The concert went extremely well. The most difficult thing we've experienced so far in translating our experience with the piece in Atlanta to the new environments (acoustical, positional, orchestral, etc.al) here in Berlin has been getting a group of 200 people to relax into the flow of the music-making going on between our conductor Donald Runnicles (whom we all adore most fervently) and the Berlin Phil (a staggering group of musicians who have welcomed us with open arms twice now), which means not clutching so tightly to the motion of the stick and listening to the interpretation being delivered in real time, and adjusting our own sense of timing and rhythmic precision into that context. In each rehearsal we've learned a little bit more about how to do it, and this was our best effort yet. This isn't to say there weren't issues (the hall is so bright and warm and lively, which is wonderful for us, but it also exposes us to a degree to which we are not accustomed), such as a bit of seam pulling during the rollicking Lacrymosa, or some random intonation lapses (I believe due mostly to fatigue, vocally and otherwise).
In all, however, the energy and expressiveness of the conductor and the intimate responsiveness of the orchestra serves to guide and inspire us to commit to the fullest extent our passion for delivering our own brand of perfection. We are the best chorus in the world, singing with the best orchestra in the world, in one of the best acoustics in the world. What's not to love? And for the most part, we delivered. We sang the demonically difficult a-capella "Quarens Me" movement to perfection. We shook the heavens during the "Dies Irae". The tenor was brilliant during the Sanctus, and our women sang like angels backing him up. When all was said and done, the audience rained applause down on us, and broke into a bedlam of cheering when we stood for our bows. Three times we stood, and each time the cheers were louder. For us, the amateur chorus, there is no other, better payment we could possibly receive. We can be better, however, and we will get better as we settle in even more to the task. I look greatly forward to the next few nights.
The best thing of all is that you can listen to our Saturday night concert live on the web! It starts at 8 PM local time (2 PM EDT). The information (in German) is here:
http://www.kulturradio.de/_/beitrag_jsp/key=1431556.html
I think you listen to the stream here:
http://www.kulturradio.de/_/beitrag_jsp/key=1209227.html
From there to capitalistic KaDeWe, shopping Mecca and standard for all things West before (and even after) the Wall came down. We had a lovely lunch on the top level cafeteria, and then straggled back to the hotel to decompress a bit before our opening night concert.
The concert went extremely well. The most difficult thing we've experienced so far in translating our experience with the piece in Atlanta to the new environments (acoustical, positional, orchestral, etc.al) here in Berlin has been getting a group of 200 people to relax into the flow of the music-making going on between our conductor Donald Runnicles (whom we all adore most fervently) and the Berlin Phil (a staggering group of musicians who have welcomed us with open arms twice now), which means not clutching so tightly to the motion of the stick and listening to the interpretation being delivered in real time, and adjusting our own sense of timing and rhythmic precision into that context. In each rehearsal we've learned a little bit more about how to do it, and this was our best effort yet. This isn't to say there weren't issues (the hall is so bright and warm and lively, which is wonderful for us, but it also exposes us to a degree to which we are not accustomed), such as a bit of seam pulling during the rollicking Lacrymosa, or some random intonation lapses (I believe due mostly to fatigue, vocally and otherwise).
In all, however, the energy and expressiveness of the conductor and the intimate responsiveness of the orchestra serves to guide and inspire us to commit to the fullest extent our passion for delivering our own brand of perfection. We are the best chorus in the world, singing with the best orchestra in the world, in one of the best acoustics in the world. What's not to love? And for the most part, we delivered. We sang the demonically difficult a-capella "Quarens Me" movement to perfection. We shook the heavens during the "Dies Irae". The tenor was brilliant during the Sanctus, and our women sang like angels backing him up. When all was said and done, the audience rained applause down on us, and broke into a bedlam of cheering when we stood for our bows. Three times we stood, and each time the cheers were louder. For us, the amateur chorus, there is no other, better payment we could possibly receive. We can be better, however, and we will get better as we settle in even more to the task. I look greatly forward to the next few nights.
The best thing of all is that you can listen to our Saturday night concert live on the web! It starts at 8 PM local time (2 PM EDT). The information (in German) is here:
http://www.kulturradio.de/_/beitrag_jsp/key=1431556.html
I think you listen to the stream here:
http://www.kulturradio.de/_/beitrag_jsp/key=1209227.html
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Significant Improvements
Two nights ago found us sitting outside of a nice little Indian restaurant located about 6 blocks from our hotel with a horde of friends, sipping Dunkels (or Pils, or Weiss, as our specific needs dictated) and enjoying some really wonderful food. I, of course, ate Butter Chicken, and it was creamy and savory, everything it was supposed to be. Wanda had Palak Paneer, which was about as good as we've ever had it anywhere. Throw in several varied appetizers and some extremely good company, and it made for a great evening. On the way back we stopped in at what is sure to become our Home Pub for the trip, Ambrosius (located directly across the street from the hotel) for a few more biers and a little bit more nosh, just because.
At some point we will have to document the woman strutting around the corner outside Ambrosius. While jaywalking might be a serious offense in Berlin, apparently prostitution is not. At some point during the evening the entire length of EinenStrasse becomes populated with, at a rate of one about every few hundred feet or so, well... "women of unsavory character". They are wearing the most spectacularly slutty outfits, and they walk around in the middle of their chosen intersection waiting for passers-by possessing specific characteristics, the two most primary being that they are horny, and that they have money. For what I'm certain is a reasonable fee, these women will hop in their cars (parked at their chosen intersection) and follow you to a destination of your choosing for er... well, let's not elucidate. "Our Ho", as we have come to call her, wears a titanium blonde wig, leggings-with-built-in-thong, and regularly changes tops, if the one she's wearing doesn't seem to be doing the trick for her.
So I've spent more time documenting the ho than the rest of the trip. We continue.
Yesterday morning I woke up like a shot at 5:30. There was no possible way I was going back to sleep, so I put on my workout clothes and went for a run. The unusualness of this event is mitigated somewhat by the fact that I was probably still jetlagged - I do not think it will become a habit (gods, I hope not!). By the time I got back, Wanda was stirring, so I got clean and we made our way downstairs to breakfast. For some reason we thought that the bus to rehearsal was leaving at 8:45, but after a schedule check we discovered it was leaving at 8:30. This caused a frantic readjustment of priorities, as Wanda threw a shower on (and off again just as quickly), and we bolted downstairs, just making the bus.
The morning rehearsal was a scratchy affair. We were not, as an ensemble, in particularly good voice (I'm sure this had nothing whatsoever to do with vast quantities of spirits imbibed the evening prior by the Chorus Corpus), and being tired and of low energy is death on this piece (any piece, really, but the Berlioz Requiem in particular requires an enormous and sustained outpouring of energy). We managed to stumble through, knowing that the afternoon's dress would be the proof of the pudding, and fled the premises for lunch.
It was at this point that I hit the wall. The lack of sleep combined with the early morning workout combined with the energy expended just to stay alive during the rehearsal pretty much did me in. I mostly slept-walked through lunch (at a Bier Garden in PostDamer Platz), staggered around a bit with Wanda afterwards and then caught a quick cat-nap in the Philharmonie before our afternoon dress rehearsal.
The rehearsal went well enough that I hold out hope for us uncorking a big performance tonight. We still have a few rough spots to conquer, but we had a major improvement over the mess we made in the morning, and we improve as much again tonight we'll be in fine shape. We closed the evening with dinner at some other BierGarden next to AlexanderPlatz. I ate something called a "fried pig's knuckle", but if that hunk of meat was the knuckle from a german pig, then it had the biggest hands of any pig I ever saw. It reminded me of the huge turkey legs you can at a Ren Fair. This was the George Foreman of pigs. We invited, and were joined by, the tenor soloist for our performances, a delightful young man named Joe. He fit right in with our cast of characters, and everyone had a great time. I turned in at 11, to ensure a good night's sleep for today's activities, which I will relate tomorrow.
You can see pics of everything here:
http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=675111792
We'll just keep adding to this set of pictures as we go, so check back for udpates!
I'm starting to get really nervous and excited now, just 20 minutes before we get on the bus to head to the Philharmonie. Will we stink it up or will we dominate? Will we meet our own silly-high standard set in 2003, or will they say "Not as good as they were before"?
We'll know soon.
At some point we will have to document the woman strutting around the corner outside Ambrosius. While jaywalking might be a serious offense in Berlin, apparently prostitution is not. At some point during the evening the entire length of EinenStrasse becomes populated with, at a rate of one about every few hundred feet or so, well... "women of unsavory character". They are wearing the most spectacularly slutty outfits, and they walk around in the middle of their chosen intersection waiting for passers-by possessing specific characteristics, the two most primary being that they are horny, and that they have money. For what I'm certain is a reasonable fee, these women will hop in their cars (parked at their chosen intersection) and follow you to a destination of your choosing for er... well, let's not elucidate. "Our Ho", as we have come to call her, wears a titanium blonde wig, leggings-with-built-in-thong, and regularly changes tops, if the one she's wearing doesn't seem to be doing the trick for her.
So I've spent more time documenting the ho than the rest of the trip. We continue.
Yesterday morning I woke up like a shot at 5:30. There was no possible way I was going back to sleep, so I put on my workout clothes and went for a run. The unusualness of this event is mitigated somewhat by the fact that I was probably still jetlagged - I do not think it will become a habit (gods, I hope not!). By the time I got back, Wanda was stirring, so I got clean and we made our way downstairs to breakfast. For some reason we thought that the bus to rehearsal was leaving at 8:45, but after a schedule check we discovered it was leaving at 8:30. This caused a frantic readjustment of priorities, as Wanda threw a shower on (and off again just as quickly), and we bolted downstairs, just making the bus.
The morning rehearsal was a scratchy affair. We were not, as an ensemble, in particularly good voice (I'm sure this had nothing whatsoever to do with vast quantities of spirits imbibed the evening prior by the Chorus Corpus), and being tired and of low energy is death on this piece (any piece, really, but the Berlioz Requiem in particular requires an enormous and sustained outpouring of energy). We managed to stumble through, knowing that the afternoon's dress would be the proof of the pudding, and fled the premises for lunch.
It was at this point that I hit the wall. The lack of sleep combined with the early morning workout combined with the energy expended just to stay alive during the rehearsal pretty much did me in. I mostly slept-walked through lunch (at a Bier Garden in PostDamer Platz), staggered around a bit with Wanda afterwards and then caught a quick cat-nap in the Philharmonie before our afternoon dress rehearsal.
The rehearsal went well enough that I hold out hope for us uncorking a big performance tonight. We still have a few rough spots to conquer, but we had a major improvement over the mess we made in the morning, and we improve as much again tonight we'll be in fine shape. We closed the evening with dinner at some other BierGarden next to AlexanderPlatz. I ate something called a "fried pig's knuckle", but if that hunk of meat was the knuckle from a german pig, then it had the biggest hands of any pig I ever saw. It reminded me of the huge turkey legs you can at a Ren Fair. This was the George Foreman of pigs. We invited, and were joined by, the tenor soloist for our performances, a delightful young man named Joe. He fit right in with our cast of characters, and everyone had a great time. I turned in at 11, to ensure a good night's sleep for today's activities, which I will relate tomorrow.
You can see pics of everything here:
http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=675111792
We'll just keep adding to this set of pictures as we go, so check back for udpates!
I'm starting to get really nervous and excited now, just 20 minutes before we get on the bus to head to the Philharmonie. Will we stink it up or will we dominate? Will we meet our own silly-high standard set in 2003, or will they say "Not as good as they were before"?
We'll know soon.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
1st Rehearsal
We just got back to the hotel after our first rehearsal with the Berlin Phil @ the Philharmonie. They are every bit as good as I remember them, and we were nothing like as good as we are capable of being, with lots of sloppiness with entrances and cutoffs. We adapted very quickly to A443, however, and our pitch was very good throughout. We know where we need to improve, and we will.
We got up this morning at 9:15, reluctantly, and made our way down to breakfast. They've a terrific breakfast buffet at the hotel (which normally costs 17 euro, but which is included as part of our tour), which we did our best to demolish. Cold cerals, eggs, bacon, ham, sausages, lots of fruit and juices, everything a growing boy (and girl) needs. Afterwards we hopped on the U Bahn and made our way over to the Berliner Dome. This is the second time we've attempted to visit said Dome. The first time was back in 2003, and it was pissing down rain and really far too cold to be out, so we satisfied ourselves with taking a picture of it from about half a mile away, then bravely turned our tails and fled.
This year we got all the way inside, only we were extremely pressed for time (being as we woke up and ate so leisurely), so we were intending on just zipping in, getting some pictures, and zipping back out again. Only, it turns out, there's a 5 euro charge to get in now, so instead of paying 5 euro for 5 minutes we turned tail and fled again, vowing to extract our revenge later. We have a weekly U Bahn pass, so I feel certain we will make good on this threat. Note to future Berlin travellers - you cannot pay for your 7-day U Bahn pass with a visa or amex. They only take mastercards or cash.
We're now headed out to dinner, and probably a few Biers. We can't go too hot and heavy tonight, since we've an early rehearsal tomorrow and we'll need to fortify heavily first at the breakfast buffet. We'll post pics from today afterwards.
We got up this morning at 9:15, reluctantly, and made our way down to breakfast. They've a terrific breakfast buffet at the hotel (which normally costs 17 euro, but which is included as part of our tour), which we did our best to demolish. Cold cerals, eggs, bacon, ham, sausages, lots of fruit and juices, everything a growing boy (and girl) needs. Afterwards we hopped on the U Bahn and made our way over to the Berliner Dome. This is the second time we've attempted to visit said Dome. The first time was back in 2003, and it was pissing down rain and really far too cold to be out, so we satisfied ourselves with taking a picture of it from about half a mile away, then bravely turned our tails and fled.
This year we got all the way inside, only we were extremely pressed for time (being as we woke up and ate so leisurely), so we were intending on just zipping in, getting some pictures, and zipping back out again. Only, it turns out, there's a 5 euro charge to get in now, so instead of paying 5 euro for 5 minutes we turned tail and fled again, vowing to extract our revenge later. We have a weekly U Bahn pass, so I feel certain we will make good on this threat. Note to future Berlin travellers - you cannot pay for your 7-day U Bahn pass with a visa or amex. They only take mastercards or cash.
We're now headed out to dinner, and probably a few Biers. We can't go too hot and heavy tonight, since we've an early rehearsal tomorrow and we'll need to fortify heavily first at the breakfast buffet. We'll post pics from today afterwards.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Berlin 2008
Our flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt was a bumpy one, with 10 thousand PA interruptions from the flight attendants, but we landed on time. However, 17 pieces of ASOC luggage did not arrive in Berlin, including my suitcase. Luckily, it was found and 6 hours later arrived at Hotel Berlin. Ben and I walked around a lot and scoped out things we'll do later in the week. Now we are just trying to stay awake long enough to get over jet lag tomorrow. To see photos: click here.
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