A walk in the morning, preserving energy for our final opera. We walked around Gendarmenmarkt near our hotel. Coffee sitting outside this Einstein Kaffe, the one Clare and I found on our first morning at the Titanic.
Then a wander around the square – described as “one of the most attractive in Berlin” on the information panel we found. The concert hall was rebuilt by the famous architect Friedrich Schinkel in the 1800s. It was being prepared for a concert in the evening.
I was devastated to learn Jonas Kaufmann was going to be singing at what was a prize-giving affair.
There are two cathedrals facing each other across the square. A French one – to support the French Huguenots, and a German one. Originally the square was called Friedrichstadt, but a Huguenot regiment stationed there, Gens d’armes, led to it being renamed Gendarmenmarkt. The two cathedrals and the concert hall were started in the early 1700s but finally built under the urban planning aegis of Friedrich the Great. The domes of both being completed between 1770 -1785. Both were damaged in WWII and restored in the 1960s-1980s. This is the French one, looking lovely in the sun.
And this is the German one, also lovely but in the shade this morning.
We’ve been walking past this statue nearly every day not realising it celebrates Schiller. The square has undergone lots of changes, with gardens and fountains before the current cobblestones and this statue was re-erected here finally in 1984. Which is also when the concert hall was re-opened. Berlin – city of constant renewal.
In the evening we were off to our final opera of the cycle, Götterdämmerung. Here we are again!
Our response to the opera followed the same pattern as the earlier ones. Some frustration with the staging – felt in varying degrees by members of our group – but thrilled by the superlative rendition of the music. I will write a separate blog about the cycle as a whole. Here are the principals at curtain call. Brunnhilde, the three aged norns, Hagen, Mandy Fredrich as Gertrune, Lauri Vasar as Gunther (he reminded me of Anthony Albanese) who like Hagen didnt die in the production, Johannes Martin Kränzle as Alberich (wandering around the stage in his underpants most of the night), Michal Doron as Waltraute, Siegfried and the Rhinemaidens.
Separate curtain calls for the stars. Anja Kampe was still great as Brunnhilde in my view but got a few boos for fading in one or two scenes apparently. She wasn’t helped at all by the silly staging.
Andreas Schager wonderful again as Siegfried, despite the indignity of heroics being limited to the basketball court.
Michael Kares was a very good, suitably malevolent Hagen. In this production, contrary to Wagner’s stage directions, he doesn’t die but slips innocuously out the back door.
In addition to the usual Thielemann acknowledgement of the orchestra we were able to give them a rousing standing ovation themselves when they all appeared on-stage. Appropriate as their playing was so good – better than any I’ve heard before. Sublime music for all four operas.
Then the creative team led by Dmitri Tcherniakov. The crowd booed – me included. Quite exhilarating. The singers ostentatiously clapping, kissing, hugging him.
Afterwards we returned to the dining room at the hotel for a final supper. Terrific food and wine. Great company. All exhilarated by our experience over the past week. Lots of mutual admiration. All very lovely. A goodbye hug for Varqua (he’s impossible to resist) bows for the rest. Goodbye. Farewell. It’s been wonderful.
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