Baroque Masterpieces Charlottenburg Palace Berlin

Posted on November 17, 2018 by suemtravels

Schloss Charlottenburg Berlin

Last night I enjoyed an interesting concert at Charlottenburg Palace. The Berlin Residence Orchestra performed baroque masterpieces dressed in period costumes.

Scholss Charollotenberg

Charlottenburg Palace is in Berlin’s Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf District and easily accessible via U-Bahn. From November 27 – December 26 a popular Christmas market is set up on Palace grounds. Before the concert, some guests savored a three-course “themed candlelight dinner”. Several years ago, I experienced a similar but disappointing dinner in Salzburg, so I opted for the concert only.

Queen Charlotte

The Great Orangery

Charlottenburg Palace History

Charlottenburg is Berlin’s last remaining palace “reflecting the one-time grandeur of the Hohenzollern clan”. The complex covers several blocks along the banks of the Spree River, and it’s surrounded by a beautiful baroque garden. Best to see it during the day, but it’s also lovely at night.

Queen Sophia Charlotte

In 1696, Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, wife of Prussian Friedrich III, commissioned construction of Lützenburg, a “summer residence in the German village of Lützow”.

King Frederick I – Emerson Kent

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“Originally a petite summer retreat, Lützenburg grew into an exquisite baroque palace with opulent apartments, festival halls, collections of precious porcelain, and paintings by French 18th century masters.”

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Orangery Garden – Pinterest

Soon after his coronation in 1701, King Frederick and Queen Sophie Charlotte decided to expand their Lützenburg residence. Tragically, Charlotte died of pneumonia in 1705 at the young age of 37. After her death, Frederick renamed the residence Charlottenburg Palace, expanded it further, built a magnificent dome, and added an “elongated building” named the Great Orangery.

Great Orangerie Schloss Charlottenburg – Qiez.de

Today Charlottenburg is a working palace and one of Berlin’s most “grandiose event venues”. It’s a great place for concerts.

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“Loud against quiet, solo against ensemble, a competition of instruments dominates the Baroque period…”

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Baroque Masterpieces Compère – Pixel and Dot Photography

Berlin Residence Orchestra

In 2006, the Berlin Residence Orchestra began staging classical music concerts in Charlottenburg’s Great Orangery. Several chamber music ensembles formed within the orchestra play at events throughout Berlin. Performances feature composers like Mozart, Bach, and Vivaldi. The staged atmosphere transports audiences beck in time to when kings listened to Baroque music.

Berliner Residenz Konzerte Schloss Charlottenburg – Berlin Welcome Card

Last night, the chamber orchestra consisted of a harpsichord, cello, bass, flute, violin, and four violas. There were flute, viola, and cello solos. Soprano Sara Gouzy and countertenor Georg Arssenij Bochow were the featured vocalists. Their operatic solos and duos were fantastic.

Charlottenburg Palace Dome – Framepool

For a while, the commentator (compère) gave parts of the narrative in English as well as German – it was obvious he really didn’t care for it. Later, he spoke German only, so I missed the nuances and jokes that made others in the audience laugh….The program was slightly confusing to follow, but the music was wonderful.

Berlin Residence Concerts – Image Berlin

The program included well-known baroque composers, kings, and friends of kings:

Frederick The Great
Georg Friedrich Händel
Antonio Vivaldi
Johann Sebastian Bach
Jean-Baptiste Lully – friend of Frederick I
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi – Italian opera composer, chapelmaster
Christoph Willibald Gluck – German opera composer
Riccardo Broschi – Italian composer, chapelmaster
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach – son of Johann Sebastian Bach

Anna Fedotova Concertmaster – ResearchGate

Anna Fedotova Concertmaster

Multi-talented Russian Anna Fedotova studied at the Far East Art Academy in Vladivostok and later at Moscow’s Gnessin Academy. She’s participated in Salzburg masterclasses and is a “laureate of several competitions in many countries”. Fedotova co-founded the Tango Ensemble Coamorous” and has toured with the group throughout Europe. Last night she played a lovely violin solo.

Alexandra Rossmann Musical Director

Alexandra Rossmann was born in Minsk Belarus, where she studied piano and became a teacher and accompanist. She performed at international festivals and made her début at the Minsk Philharmonic at the age of 17. Rossmann later moved to Germany and studied at the Musikhochschule Munich. She lives in Potsdam and teaches piano. Alexandra played harpsichord during the performance.

Sara Gouzy Soprano

French soprano Sara Gouzy completed her piano studies at the Conservatoire de Toulouse. She studied voice at the Academy of Music “Hanns Eisler” Berlin and attended masterclasses in France and Germany. In 2012 Gouzy participated in projects at the “Hanns Eisler” and Berlin’s Komische Oper (Comic Opera). Gouzy is a scholarship holder of the association “Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now” and soloist with the Berlin Residence Orchestra.

Georg Arssenij Bochow Countertenor

The German-Russian countertenor Georg Arssenij Bochow began his career as a chorister in the Berlin Staats- und Domchor and received Canada’s Saint Nicolas Award from the Royal School of Church Music. He began vocal studies at the “Hanns Eisler” in 2011 and has taken masterclasses. He appeared with the Deutsche Oper Berlin in the world première of Evan Gardner’s Die Unterhändlerin (The Negotiator).

Great Orangery at Night

Charlottenburg Palace Courtyard

This is the first time I’ve experienced a countertenor in such close quarters – a most unusual voice!

Chamber Music Players

Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic

Posted on November 15, 2018 by suemtravels

Andreas Martin Hofmeir & Band

The performance marks the fifth season of Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic. It included three duets by Andreas Martin Hofmeir & Band – beautifully illustrating how “classical and jazz stimulate each other”.

Bugge Wesseltoft and Henning Kraggerud Jazz At Berlin Philharmonic 2018

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**“The formula that makes the Philharmonic jazz concerts so successful is that each is ‘an edition of one,’ a special, unique event.”
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Years ago, as a high school marching band member, tuba and brass instruments were a fascination. Hofmeir organizes brass bands, and when it comes to Tuba, he’s in a league of his own. He’s the best tuba player I’ve ever heard, producing an unbelievable range of flawless sound! His stage presence and commentary are endearing and humorous. Verbal descriptions and the printed program were in German, but the audience’s reaction spoke for itself.

Described as “progressive strings” Bartolomey and Bittmann create a young, contemporary sound adding a “unique dynamic, rocking power” to the band. I loved the original compositions they played with such passion.

Pianist Bugge Wesseltoft was a favorite. Wesseltoft, known as a “pioneer in the fusion of classical jazz with electronic music,” played with Henning Kraggerud, one of Scandinavia’s most distinguished string players. Their sound is brilliant!

Each duet included several sets, and as you were thinking nothing could top what you just heard, the next performance was equally fantastic! Benjamin Schmid and Henning Kraggerud are master violinists. Their beautiful music steals your heart away.

Mandola

Tuba

Stradivarius Violin

Cello

Steinway Concert Grand Piano

After their duets, all six musicians performed together completely blowing the audience away. They’re an unbelievable group of dedicated professionals. I enjoyed every minute of the concert!

During fascism jazz and classical music were “strictly separated.” The Nazi regime banned jazz radio broadcasts.

Foyer Berlin Philharmonic – Arch Daily

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“After 1970, government ministries gave up their antagonism towards jazz, explaining that it had become part of East German culture and politics.”

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VIVID Grand Show Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin

Posted on November 9, 2018 by suemtravels

VIVID Grand Show

Vivid Grand Show is an impressive production with ultra-talented actors, singers, dancers, and acrobats. Everything shines from the performing artists to the magnificent stage design, lighting, and costumes! The production premiered at Friedrichstadt-Palast last month, and sold-out performances continue to “WOW” Berlin!

Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin

Venue

Friedrichstadt-Palast is the last major architectural statement of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It’s the world’s largest theater stage.

VIVID Jungle Gold – Robert Grischek

Luxurious Foyer Friedrichstadt-Palast – Wikipedia

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The Friedrichstadt-Palast was where Berliners went to see the “most spectacular shows in the reunited German nation”

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Image Robert Grischek

Friedrichstadt-Palast history goes back to the 19th century when it was a “covered market and circus arena”. Before the GDR renamed it, the Nazis called it Theater des Volkes – Theatre of the People. Construction defects and damage from WWII air attacks resulted in the theater’s demolition. A beautiful new building opened in 1984 as “a significant emblem of Germany’s divided history”.

VIVID Grand Show Kickline Friedrichstadt-Palast

VIVID Grand Show Schlange Composing Foto – Robert Grischek

Theme

Vivid is a “visual narrative”. Powerful images and sound tell the story with German spoken during key parts of the performance.

VIVID Grand Show Hot-Blossom – Robert Grischek

The story is about a young woman – R’eye – played by actress Devi Ananda Dahm. R’eye becomes separated from her father and transformed into an android – half human, half machine. The audience accompanies androidin R’eye in her quest for freedom “while bathing their eyes in images of glittering variety”. Vivid graphically takes us through the process of R’eye becoming who she really is. We follow her as she learns about life and gains the courage to face life’s challenges and fears.

Grand Finale

“Although R’eye’s android life becomes subject to external control, her yearning for freedom lives on as she begins moving to a different beat. With the wonder of a child, she beholds the world with new eyes and perceives the overwhelming beauty of things we often overlook in life.”

Grand Finale

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“Who can you be? What’s your true ID? VIVID is a hypersensuous journey of self-discovery and a declaration of love for life.”

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Cobra Headdress and an Orchid Dress Friedrichstadt-Palast

Creative Team and Performing Artists

Designers

Vivid’s budget of 12 million euros makes it the most expensive production in Germany’s history. The spectacular costumes and stage sets are “unparalleled” works of art. As R’eye discovers her hidden identity the color theme progresses from black and white to the vivid bright “colors of life“.

Mongolian Contortionists Troupe Ayasgalan – Diário Zona Norte

Dancer in Fantasy Bird Costume – Martin Muller

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Stage sets like “a magical jungle garden with huge butterflies and a science fiction world take the audience into a magnificent fantasy world”.

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Butterfly Hat Friedrichstadt-Palast

Vivid Flower Dress Friedrichstadt-Palast

Vivid’s exemplary design team includes Philip Treacy, the famous milliner who creates hats for Queen Elizabeth II, Karl Lagerfeld, Ralph Lauren, Lady Gaga, and others. Renowned US production designer Michael Cotton created the extraordinary stage scenery. English audio engineer Cedric Beatty orchestrated sound, and Stefano Canulli – Italian film, opera, and fashion designer – created the elegant costumes. Set design animations are by Germany’s talented Jan Wünsche.

VIVID Laserbeams – Dennis Weinboerner

Mad Hatter Philip Treacy Friedrichstadt-Palast

Uzbekistan’s Duo Sky Angels Kristina Vorbeva and Rustem Osmanov – Yvon Kervinio

Actors, Singers, Dancers

Over 100 amazing international artists performed in the flawless production, each showing perfection, love, and dedication of their discipline with physical and “artistic-artistic excellence”. Actor and singer Andreas Bieber was “The Entertainer” and narrator. This is a list of Vivid’s amazing cast and creative team.

Ukrainian Gymnast Artem Lyubanevych – Thomas F. Strong

Andreas Bieber – The Entertainer – and Devi Ananda Dahm – R’eye

Contortionists, Gymnasts, Aerial Acrobats

The Contortion Act by Mongolian Troupe Ayasgalan was amazing as was the Aerial Pole Act by award-winning Ukrainian gymnast Artem Lyubanevych. Words cannot describe the Duo Sky Angels Iron Jaw Act by Uzbekistan’s Kristina Vorbeva and Rustem Osmanov! The stunning Ecuadorian Navas Troupe starred in their highly dangerous, breathtaking daredevil Double Wheels of Steel Act. The Navas perfected the double wheels during Cirque du Soleil performances and at Radio City Music Hall!

The Navas Troupe Double Wheels of Steel – BZ Berlin

Navas Troupe VIVID Friedrichstadt-Palast

Jan Wünsche Set Design Animations – Xing

It was fun chatting with the mostly German audience during break in the Palace’s beautiful foyer. So much activity on the stage made it almost impossible for one pair of eyes to absorb. The all-inclusive theme and production are very Berlin. Can’t imagine a more entertaining evening!

Andreas Bieber, Costume Designer Stefano Canulli, Devi Ananda Dahm – Christian Marquardt

Berlin Jazz Festival November 2018

Posted on November 5, 2018 by suemtravels

Jazzfest 2018

Berlin hosted its 2018 Jazz Festival from November 1 through 4. Founded in 1964 as Berliner Jazztage, Jazzfest Berlin is one of Europe’s most renowned music festivals. Over four days, Artistic Director Nadine Deventer orchestrated multiple concerts with sold-out performances focusing on contemporary European jazz.

Jazzfest Berlin Director Nadine Deventer

The main stage was Berlin’s modern theater building – the Haus der Berliner Festspiele – which seats about 1000. Other performances were held at jazz clubs, landmarks, and businesses throughout Berlin’s diverse neighborhoods.

I watched two concerts, one at Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and the other at the House of the Berliner Festspiele. Both featured outstanding contemporary jazz artists!

New Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

Neo-romanesque Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (Gedächtniskirche) is the symbolic centre of West Berlin. There are two buildings in the “Gedächtniskirche ensemble” – the ruins of the pre-WWII church (called the “hollow tooth”) and a beautiful new church symbolizing the “desire to build up Berlin in the post-war period”.

Inside Remains of Pre WWII Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

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Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is a Berlin landmark and “memorial against war and destruction”.

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Kaiser Wilhelm Church Before WWII Bombings

The stark remains of the original church are like a tube encased in stained-glass windows. The acoustics were fantastic, and it was a great venue for Threads of Estonia.

Ceiling New Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

Haus der Berliner Festspiele

The Haus der Berliner Festspiele, known as the “Theater of the Free People’s Stage,” opened in 1963. In 1999 it was sold to an investor and in 2001 reopened as the “Haus der Berliner Festspiele”. The large theater is used year-round as the stage for events and festivals featuring international artists of all disciplines. It’s a bustling venue!

Threads of Estonia – Maria Faust and Kara-Lis Coverdale

The audience was mostly German, with few foreigners in the crowd, except the French couple seated in front of me who kissed their way through the concert.

Maria Faust Alto Saxophonist

Maria Faust

Composer Maria Faust plays alto saxophone and her group consists of a tenor saxophone, piano, cello, and two double basses. The music is avant-garde and a delight for those who appreciate contemporary jazz.

Maria Faust

Award-winning Faust is described as a “phenomenon”. She grew up “under the Soviet Star in Kurressare on the Estonian island of Saaremaa”. Conducting was a part of Faust’s classic and contemporary music education.

“Disarming openness and originality” characterize Faust’s many projects. Her search for the “musical expression of the elemental depths and abysses of our existence” is expressed in her recent chamber music work “Machina“. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert. The brilliant music definitely gets inside your head.

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“If you close your eyes, a kind of Nordic Saudade (longing) opens up: waves, chugging engine noises, sudden silence, heavy fog, and breaking light form a soulful, breathing, intimate whole.”

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Kara-Lis Coverdale

Illusive composer and organ soloist Kara-Lis Coverdale is Canadian with Estonian roots. Her electronic music is unique and hard to describe – “flowing beautiful sound has never been her thing”. She played with little light except that shimmering from the stained-glass windows and didn’t appear before or after her performance.

Coverdale is involved in Berlin’s MaerzMusik scene. Berlin hosts a 2019 MaerzMusik festival from March 16 to 25. The festival “combines the diverse currents within contemporary music with a contrasting panorama of renowned artists worldwide”.

Kara-Lis Coverdale

Coverdale has been “absorbing Nordic religious music since she was a teenager”. She’s church organist and choirmaster at the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. John in Montreal. Coverdale is known as a “troublemaker who mixes hip-hop with the hymnals at her day job”. She composed the abstract piece “Extended Shadows” especially for her performance at Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.

Berliner Festspiele | MaerzMusik 2016 "The Long Now" Kraftwerk, 19/20.03.2016

MaerzMusik Festival Haus der Berliner Festspiele – taz.de

Kim Myhr / Mary Halvorson Octet / Bill Frisell

This rich performance included excellent back-to-back concerts on the main stage at Haus der Berliner Festspiele. The crowd was young and enthusiastic.

Kim Myhr

Norwegian composer, sound artist, and guitarist Kim Myhr is “concerned with creating a slowly developing, multi-layered sound cosmos that is so saturated with details that you believe you’re swimming in it” – not sure I understand that… Myhr is a “voice of Norway’s creative experimental music scene”.

Kim Myhr – Electric and Acoustic Guitar (c) Orfee Schuijt

An active composer Myhr writes music for chamber ensembles, electroacoustic settings, and theatrical projects. His performance included electric, bass, and acoustic guitars and three percussionists. His album You | me “is a work with a continuous pulse in which everything derives from a single musical idea”.

Mary Halvorson Octet

Guitarist Mary Halvorson’s Octet was the “highly anticipated culmination of her New York-based Jazzfest residence”. She spent two week-long residencies at New York’s legendary Village Vanguard jazz club and is one of the “most distinctive and original improvisers of her time”.

Mary Halvorson Guitarist – Bomb Magazine

Halvorson’s popular octet includes pedal steel guitar, trumpet, tenor saxophones, trombone, bass, and drums. She’s produced a phenomenal 27 albums in three years and is extremely popular in Berlin. Her album Away With You is highly praised.

Mary Halvorson Octet

Bill Frisell

Bill Frisell has long been a favorite of mine! I love his gentle sound, a contrast to the sounds of other performers during the evening. He was popular in the Bay Area and I remember his music when I was living in San Francisco.

Bill Frisell Guitar Soloist – Press Photo

Frisell attended renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston and lived in New York City. His distinctive, easy-to-listen-to music is sometimes described as “somewhere between Bonnie Raitt and John Zorn”.

Last year Frisell produced a duo album with bassist Thomas Morgan followed by a solo album “Music Is”. He begins a tour of solo concerts here in Berlin.

Blue Man Group Berlin Halloween Performance

Posted on November 1, 2018 by suemtravels

Blue Man Group

I spent Halloween evening at a hilarious spellbinding Blue Man performance in Berlin! The unique multimedia show is appearing at the Stage BlueMax Theater on Marlene-Dietrich-Platz in Potsdam Square. It was sold out and totally fun!

Blue Man Group Without Makeup

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“They are blue, they are three, they carry bald heads and do not make a sound…”

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Custom Instrument Made of PVC Pipes

Blue Man Group with Drumbone

The show originated in the US but is one of Berlin’s most successful long-term productions – “a mix of music, rhythms, comedy, and intense visual effects”. There are productions in Las Vegas, New York, Boston, Orlando, and Chicago. The Berlin show began in 2004 and is the Group’s first and only permanent venue outside the US.

The show emerged from New York’s art scene during the late 1980s. The original performance was in 1988 with founders Phil Stanton, Matt Goldman, and Chris Wink – as the first blue trio. Since then, the “three extremely creative bald heads have been unstoppable”. In 1991, they received the coveted “Obie Award” for theater – a well-deserved recognition of their talent.

The Blue Men actively interact with their audience during the performance. The audience participates by providing prompted (in German) verbal and body action. Those sitting front and center wear plastic ponchos for protection from paint spray. At one point the three highly fit Blue Men made animal-like crawling moves as they climbed from the stage through seats in the center of the theater – exhilarating!

Blue Man Group Berlin

Segments of the program feature randomly chosen members of the audience. One was pretty intense, so I wonder if they “planted” that participant. There were two Olympic Gold Medal winners in the audience.

Audience Berlin Performance

Interior BlueMax Theater

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“Music and rhythm are integral parts of every Blue Man Group performance. In contrast to the band, the Blaumänner themselves do not play conventional electric guitars or drum kits, but specially created instruments.”

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Blue Man Group with Unique Musical Instruments

A live band, including an incredible drummer, accompanied the Blue Men on stage and provided “an intense atmosphere reminiscent of a rock concert”. The “classic instrument of the troupe” is an impressive percussion made of PVC pipes. I’ve never seen anything like it. The sound was fantastic! Their outstanding musical performances show that they are experienced percussionists. They also used a smaller but “just as ingenious drumbone, a fascinating fusion of drums and trombone”.

BlueMax Theatre Berlin

In July 2017, Canadian Cirque du Soleil announced its intention to take over the parent company of the Blue Man Group. The entertainment company “intends to market Blue Man Group worldwide and diversify its live performances”.

BlueMax Stage Theater Berlin

I thoroughly enjoyed the evening! It was mesmerizing fun!

Potsdam Germany UNESCO World Heritage Site

Posted on October 26, 2018 by suemtravels

These are summaries of Potsdam’s best known attractions. During our six-hour walking tour we passed by attractions but didn’t view interiors – that’s a separate trip. My favorite park was once a royal hunting ground near Grunewald Hunting Lodge.

Due to their “uniqueness, influence on art history, and proven association with historically significant events” the “Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin” joined UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1990.

Salvador Dalí Museum Berlin

Posted on October 22, 2018 by suemtravels

The Persistence of Memory 1931 Salvador Dalí

Berlin’s Dalí Museum is a permanent exhibition at Potsdamer Platz with more than 450 original artworks by Spanish artist Salvador Dalí. The museum offers “insight into Dalí’s virtuosity and mastership of almost all art techniques”.

Salvador Dali Theater Museum Figueres Spain

I had no idea what a diverse artist Dalí was. The amazing exhibits include original lithographs, illustrations, photography, sculpting, xylographs, drypoint etchings, mixed-media graphics, héliogravures, Olympic medals, jewelry designs, and even a short film. Videos placed throughout the museum illustrate techniques Dalí used to create some of his work.

Salvador Dalí

Salvador Dalí Surrealism Paintings Photo Gallery

Although I’ve never been a Dalí fan, his Surrealistic paintings are fascinating, and this exhibit gave me new appreciation of his art and creativity. He’s considered a genius. In addition to his more avant-garde paintings, Dalí created beautiful landscapes and portraiture. This is a list of his works created between 1913 and 1983.

The Berlin museum is a great introduction to Dalí’s complex world. Over 70 years he produced 1160 artworks and even illustrated his own life for the opening of his museum in Figueres Spain!

The Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee 1944 Salvador Dalí

Boat 1918 Salvador Dalí

Salvador Dalí

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“Surrealist artists rejected the rational in art; and instead aimed to channel the unconscious to unlock the power of imagination.”

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The Burning Giraffe 1937 Salvador Dalí

Dali used extensive symbolism in his work. Recurring “images in his paintings include elephants with brittle legs which evoke weightlessness; ants, thought to be his symbol for decay and death; and melting watches, perhaps symbolic of non-linear human perception of time”.

Tuna Fishing 1967 Salvador Dalí

Swans Reflecting Elephants 1937 Salvador Dalí

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Dali became the “most influential Surrealist artist; and perhaps the most renowned twentieth century painter after Pablo Picasso”.

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Galatea of the Spheres 1952 Salvador Dalí

Lobster Telephone 1936 Salvador Dalí

The museum contains so much info, it’s likely I’ll visit again. Some of Dalí’s most famous paintings include:

The Burning Giraffe
Tuna Fishing
Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee
Galatea of the Spheres
Metamorphosis of Narcissus
Christ of Saint John of the Cross
The Great Masturbator
Soft Construction with Boiled Beans
Swans Reflecting Elephants
The Persistence of Memory

A Shower of Jasmine 1954 Salvador Dalí

Salvador Dalí Surrealist

“Originally a petite summer retreat, Lützenburg grew into an exquisite baroque palace with opulent apartments, festival halls, collections of precious porcelain, and paintings by French 18th century masters.”

“Loud against quiet, solo against ensemble, a competition of instruments dominates the Baroque period…”

Share this:

Like this:

_____________

“The formula that makes the Philharmonic jazz concerts so successful is that each is ‘an edition of one,’ a special, unique event.” _____________

_____________

“After 1970, government ministries gave up their antagonism towards jazz, explaining that it had become part of East German culture and politics.”

_____________

Share this:

Like this:

_____________

The Friedrichstadt-Palast was where Berliners went to see the “most spectacular shows in the reunited German nation”

_____________

_____________

“Who can you be? What’s your true ID? VIVID is a hypersensuous journey of self-discovery and a declaration of love for life.”

_____________

_____________

Stage sets like “a magical jungle garden with huge butterflies and a science fiction world take the audience into a magnificent fantasy world”.

_____________

Share this:

Like this:

_____________

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is a Berlin landmark and “memorial against war and destruction”.

_____________

_____________

“If you close your eyes, a kind of Nordic Saudade (longing) opens up: waves, chugging engine noises, sudden silence, heavy fog, and breaking light form a soulful, breathing, intimate whole.”

_____________

Share this:

Like this:

_____________

“They are blue, they are three, they carry bald heads and do not make a sound…”

_____________

_____________

“Music and rhythm are integral parts of every Blue Man Group performance. In contrast to the band, the Blaumänner themselves do not play conventional electric guitars or drum kits, but specially created instruments.”

_____________

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

_____________

“Surrealist artists rejected the rational in art; and instead aimed to channel the unconscious to unlock the power of imagination.”

_____________

_____________

Dali became the “most influential Surrealist artist; and perhaps the most renowned twentieth century painter after Pablo Picasso”.

_____________

Share this:

Like this:

**“The formula that makes the Philharmonic jazz concerts so successful is that each is ‘an edition of one,’ a special, unique event.”
_____________**