so we have been in Leipzig for a whole month now. we can verify the rumours: it is a high-culture city!
the church where j.s. bach was kapellmeister is one of the most important venues: we have heard the boys' choir associated with thomaskirche several times, and even a professional quintet of young men who used to sing in the thomanerchor. this little group is called ensemble nobiles, and thy are tight. we heard them twice: in a local little church (where their voices filled the place mightily) and once in thomaskirche (where a quintet sounds small but holy).
this past weekend was the opening event for the world-renowned gewandhaus orchester: it was an outdoor concert which showcased their energy and the conductor's warm enthusiasm. earlier in the afternoon we heard a few little concerts by members of the orchestra: a brass band doing jazz; a pair of clarinettists playing mozart; a string ensemble playing viennese waltzes....
and the night before was the "passagenfest" in which many passageways (which are filled with shops) offered entertainment and stayed open until midnight. i saw a guy dressed in a Pan-costume which was the best i had ever seen-- stilts which became hooves and gave a bouncy spring to his step.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
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2 comments:
Glad to see you settled in and soaking up the culture! I'll put on some 'cello suites today in honor of old JSB's home.
But where are the pix of this marvelous Pan? Or of the big church, or the Mendelssohn memorial?
all of this is yet to come... patience, grass-hopper!
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