My first (and second!) beer in Germany!We are already at week two of Susan’s audition tour and she has finally had a chance to do some sightseeing! Walking around Berlin, she seems to run into one historical site after another. Along with experiencing the German culture, sightseeing is certainly like stepping into the pages of a history book. And Berlin is definitely not short on history! Read on to hear about her discoveries, plus a new opera audition opportunity.
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Where the Cream of the Cream is singing- Opera Houses in Berlin and the German Theater System9/12/2017 The State Opera House Unter den Linden in Berlin-Mitte before the renovation. By Beek100 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 In Germany, there are around 126,000 theatre productions a year. If that sounds impressive, just wait. Over 35 million people go to these performances in that year span! Holy Brünnhilde, that’s a lot of people! There are roughly 140 publicly funded theatres and 220 privately funded theaters. Unlike New York, USA and Paris, France, opera houses are not all concentrated in one city. There are opera houses dispersed all throughout the country so that everywhere you go, you will be able to attend a production. [1]
Photo by Franz Johann Morgenbesser from Vienna, Austria (Diana Damrau, Sopran) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Diana_Damra,_Sopran_(17162763632).jpg Welcome to our series on the best German opera singers! If you google “Best German opera singer,” Diana Damrau is one of the very first search results. In fact, she is the second search result behind Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who is arguably one of the greatest singers of all time. And let’s be real, I would put Damrau on that list too. I promise I’m not just saying that because we are both coloratura sopranos!
If you are planning on travelling to Germany for an extended period of time (i.e. for grad school and fest contract auditions), you probably know that you must be somewhat proficient in German! This can be daunting if you are attempting to learn German yourself without the help of a school program. Have no fear! It is not impossible! Nor is it expensive! Here are a bunch of ways to teach yourself German without taking an expensive university course.
For When One Wagner Opera isn’t Enough
Next week, the Bayreuth Festival will start and run through the end of August. The program consists entirely of operas written by Richard Wagner. No, it only takes a month to get through them all, not a full year! Believe it or not, the idea of a festival of only Wagner operas was the conception of Wagner himself! Okay… I guess that is pretty believable. Always in a financial crisis, the festival was a means for Wagner to pay debts and remain financially independent. Once Wagner had chosen Bayreuth as the location for his festival, he discovered that the existing theatre in Bayreuth was not equipped to handle the grandiose staging and orchestrations of his operas. Hence, he set out to fundraise to build a grand opera house worthy of his works. If you are a professional musician in Germany, you get a break! That’s right, not just teachers get a summer vacation. Theatres are generally closed for six weeks during the summer months. Now, sometimes there are special performances held outside or at markets, but for the most part, theatres take a hiatus and will rent out the theatres for other events. If you don’t want to take an extended vacation, and if you are one of the lucky ones, you could fly to another country to sing, or you could take part in master classes and music festivals in Germany.
Der Heilige Abend (Christmas Eve) is in Germany the evening preceding the Christmas day. Families and friends get together for the celebration. Some families visit the church service, singing Christmas carols, open the gifts they received. Santa Claus (Weihnachtsmann) is coming or the Christkind. One song cannot be missed on this night: Stille Nacht - Stilent Night.
The Christmas star originates in Mexico and it can be found everywhere in Germany during the Holiday season, decorating homes and shops with its beautiful red and green leaves.
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Most blog posts from June 2017 - June 2018 were written by GVAI's blogger Anikka Abbott who has just started her journalism studies. We already miss her. Learn more about her here or connect with her on Facebook.
Meet ChristineHello, I am Christine, the director of GVAI, a passionate singer, German diction, voice and performance coach. I love music, singing and dancing. Life is an exciting journey and I invite you to walk with me.... |