Music Capitals of the World 2014 PLU: Hello Berlin

Well I have to say that coming into Berlin was quite a bit different from Leipzig. While Leipzig was very traditional with cute cafés, charming buildings, and our wonderful Say Cheese hostel (all within walking distance), Berlin is much more industrial, hip, and with public transportation on the U-Bahn. Our Pfefferbett hostel (a former brewery) had a very interesting first impression..... I definitely was not sure how I was going to feel here. I wanted to go back to Leipzig!! However, today definitely changed that.

We went on a tour of Berlin with a guide and I was amazed at all the history of the city and saw some beautiful buildings. It is fascinating how Berlin is such a new city due to it having to be pretty much all rebuilt after WWII. Though many of the buildings have an older look, it is due to the architects trying to capture the older style when rebuilding. It will be exciting to venture into the city more tomorrow and go see the Berlin wall and possibly some museums. Museum island is pretty cool by the way!

After freezing and having tired legs from our tour, we ate a delicious meal at a place called Emma's. The sautéed potatoes with bacon and onions was yummy! Our concert for the night was at 8:00, but we decided to walk around more and visit some sites instead of heading back to the hostel. We went into a beautiful government building (the "red" something), tested more doors at an old church, and tried to find a Starbucks to rest and grab coffee before the concert, it was rainy and cold!!! Going into the concert we were sleepy and wet, yet excited to see the Bennewitz String Quartet. The concert definitely woke us up, it was amazing!! The collective conscious of the performers was breathtaking. Seeing that connecting line between each player as they made beautiful chamber music together was trully something. The Dvorak string quartet was lovely. I especially like the first movement with the hurdy-gurdy-like cello part. All the movements had a very Slavic feeling. The Schulhoff 5 dances were crazy awesome (talk about phenomenal playing and music by a composer whom I didn't know much about). They were very interesting takes on traditional dances, especially with the Serenade. It did not sound like a traditional serenade as I know it, and the musicians played it wih this sarcastic humor that made the song almost tongue and cheek. Having the opportunity to see the world premiere of Songs of Immigrants by Slavomir Horinka. The last song was a tribute to the Eritrean immigrants who died when the ship they were on heading to Europe crashed outside the coast of Italy in October. The song was trully moving and incorporated traditional Eritrean music with recorded sounds of water and voices. The instruments did some extended techniques to sound like wind and create a very transparent and intense atmosphere. I found myself tearing up at the absolutely mournful melodies and disturbed at the sounds of gurgling water behind the foreboding sounds of the strings. It was quite the visceral experience to be apart of. What away to start off the classical music part of the trip!!!!

For tomorrow, I am definitely hoping for some snow, not just some whisps of it like there was this morning. Goodnight for now and there will definitely be a blog post tomorrow night after seeing the Magic Flute, stay tuned!! :)