Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Vocal Chamber Concert

Besides singing chorus in Nabucco and Die Blume von Hawaii, we were also asked to put on a chamber concert of arias and ensemble numbers. So since we have been in Germany we have put that concert together and finally were able to perform it this past Sunday. We sang in an old building on the Schloss grounds called the Jagdschloss. It was originally used as a tea house for the countess, then it was used as a hunting house where the men would eat and drink during their hunting outings. We were told it was 250 years old and concerts had only started being given there less than thirty years ago.

I sang an aria from Die Fledermaus called "Mein Herr Marquis", it is also famously known as Adele's Laughing Song. And I sang the Flower Duet from an opera called Lakme with my friend Katie. I was worried a bit about being healthy enough for the concert, but it all turned out alright and was a great success!

The Lakme Duet with the lovely Katie Bieber

The hall was beautiful. It was very tiny, with a lot of windows over looking a beautiful view of the lake. It was also probably the most "live" performing space I have ever sung in. There was probably a five second reverberation of the sound once someone had stopped singing. During the dress rehearsal, when there weren't very many bodies to help soak up the sound, the voices were ringing so loudly that I wanted to cover my ears. I didn't though, because I didn't want to give the impression that I didn't like the singing!

Sitting in the dress rehearsal listening to each other sing

The view of the windows and chandelier

At the end of the concert all of the singers were given a small token to remember the building and the concert by. It was a nail from the original construction surrounded by plexiglas. The nail is beautiful, in the same way that all the other "old" things of Europe are. The nail is covered in rust and is bent a little which shows the life it's lived and the history it is a part of. The other cool thing is that each nail is different, besides the wear on them, but the actual shape of the nails are not the same because they were made before the time of machinery. We were given these gifts because about 5 years ago the roof had to be rebuilt due to water damage and therefore these trinkets make a very nice souvenir :) I haven't taken a photo yet, but I will try to get it up soon.

All of us dressed and ready to sing :)

 

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