Another Month in Heidelberg, Part 6 (La Bohéme)

Today is a religious holiday; however, even as a good Catholic Manuela could not tell me what Fronleichnam was. With the help of Wikipedia, it’s Corpus Christi. Manuela invited me to a big parade featuring pictures made of flower petals at her local church in Handschuhsheim.

Note: Corpus Christi is a Catholic feast in honor of the Holy Eucharist; it is customary, after Mass, to hold processions, often outdoors, with the Host followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

On Saturday I go to the opera again, to see “La Bohéme ” at the Staatliche Buhne (City Theater) Before the performance there is another lecture about the production, which, I find fascinating. Afterwards I ask the lecturer (in English) about the current trend of doing operas in modern dress. He replies that it costs much less, since period costumes and scenery are very expensive; also it allows for more up-to-date interpretations. “Idomeneo” was in modern dress, the upcoming ‘Eugene Onegin” is modern, as is tonight’s “La Bohéme.” My fourth row center seat is €31 or about $50; the San Francisco opera is at least four times that!
The action of this “La Bohéme” starts before the music begins. The curtain is up as the audience comes in, and while the orchestra tunes and before the conductor takes the stand, the four bohemians are rearranging furniture, watching TV and one is taking a nap! There is no overture, once the music starts the singers sing. The four young singers are wearing Jeans and Rodolfo is stripped to the waist. Mimi enters and asks for a light; not for her candle but for her cigarette! Act 2 takes place in a shopping center and the Café Momus is a take-out food stand. The singers are young with terrific voices that soar and fill the theater. In acts 3 and 4 the Bohemians have grown older and successful, they look back on their previous life with nostalgia. Mimi is sung by a 34 year old Russian with the voice of an angel and dies, stage front center as the curtain falls. The full-house audience is ecstatic, they clap in unison and won’t let the cast leave!

Yesterday the roof of the Berlin Philharmonic caught fire and much to her consternation Pamela Rosenberg, late of the San Francisco Opera, had to cancel all concerts for the next week!

This Sunday is a day to do things Jewish! In the morning I drive into town and go on a walking tour of Jewish Heidelberg. About 20 or 30 people meet at Alta Synagoge Platz (Old Synagogue Place) and listen to a historian from the City of Heidelberg talk about the Jewish history of the city. The good professor tells us that there have been Jews in Heidelberg since 1275 and this Platz is actually the site of Heidelberg’s third synagogue, which was destroyed on Kristallnacht. We then move to Heumarkt, the old hay market and the building on the corner was the first Jewish and Kosher hotel in Heidelberg. Next stop along Unter Strasse (Under Street) being the first street below Hauptstrasse (Main Street) and the building on the corner of Dreikonigstrasse (Street of the Three Kings) was the former home of one of the town’s leading Jewish merchants and a few houses away was another much older synagogue of which nothing remains. I don’t think that the Professor mentions that Heidelberg was the first city in Germany to declare itself Judenrein (clear of Jews) in 1938!

In the afternoon I hear a recital by Druschba-Cheverut, a Jewish-Ukrainian men’s chorus from Munich at the Heidelberg Jewish Community Center next to the new synagogue. They sing “O Sey Shalom”, several Russian songs and a selection from “Fiddler on the Roof”. Most of the audience is Russian and Ukrainian and are very enthusiastic. The Master of Ceremonies tells us that the combined age of the chorus is 1,400 years! I also get a chance to look at the sanctuary; it’s orthodox with a bema (desk for reading the Torah) in the center and the women’s section is upstairs in the balcony.


Photos:
Tour of Jewish Heidelberg 3#047
First Jewish Hotel in Heidelberg 3#056
Dreikonigstrasse, Heidelberg 3#049
Jewish-Ukrainian men’s chorus 3#057

Another Month in Heidelberg, Part 5 (Early Modern History)

On Monday I see Herr Kuehne, the guesthouse manager and tell him how much I enjoyed Speyer because I remembered he lives there. He tells me that the cost of housing is lower than in Heidelberg and the weather better. He also thinks “the people are more friendly because they are happier”, a very interesting concept; I don’t think that the people of the Napa Valley are either happier or friendlier! Spent much of the rest of the day having the outside mirror replaced on my VW Golf, which was demolished a few nights ago when someone sideswiped my car. I drive to the VW dealer, Bernhardt Volkswagen Zentrum, Heidelberg on Hebelstrasse close to the railway station and Yalcin Sezar the Serviceberator (Service Advisor) spends almost as long making sure that they have the proper parts in stock and completing the paper work as the mechanic spends installing it. The dealership is huge, taking up the equivalent of a city block with many salespeople, service people and other personnel. The estimate is €130 and it will take an hour. I catch a #33 bus at the stop outside the door and spend a couple of hours riding around the town. At Piccadilly, the local English shop I buy “Shakespeare” by Bill Bryson as a paperback for €13 and have a bite of lunch. Back at the dealer, the car is ready and the total bill €115.43 or about $170; I believe considerably less than in the States. In the evening, on TV, I watch a German dubbed B & W movie with Frances MacDermond (the woman from ‘Fargo’) and the guy from ‘Sopranos’. It’s probably an early Cohn brother’s movie, which takes place in Santa Rosa and Sacramento.

Tuesday in class; Manuela and I spend most of the time on the German synopsis of Frau Ohne Shatten in the program. The story is very obtuse, the language obscure and we both have a terrible time getting it straight. I also get some help from Wikipedia.

At the next class Manuela brings in a couple of different local newspapers, which she had used in one of her other classes. We look through ‘BILD’, a tabloid similar to the English ‘Daily Mirror’, which has a nude picture on the lower half of the front page, every day. Manuela says this paper is not delivered to homes and can only be bought at newsstands; it costs €. 60, while the ‘Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung’ that I buy almost everyday costs €1.10.

In the evening I go to a lecture sponsored by the ‘Hochschule fur Judische Studien’; it’s as esoteric as they come! Dean Philip Bell, visiting professor from ‘Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies’ in Chicago is speaking on “Early Modern Jewish and Christian Relations in Central Europe: The Context of Environmental History”; luckily he speaks in English. Philip Bell is the author of several books on Early Modern Jewish subjects including “Sacred Communities, Jewish and Christian Identities in 15th Century Germany” and “Jews in the Early Modern World” published 2008 by Rowman & Littlefield. I know that you all will want to get your own copies of these! The early modern period of Jewish history is from 1400 to 1700.

Oh, I also get a parking ticket for €15, my first one. I show it to the desk clerk at the hotel and she explains that I fill it in with my bank account details and the bank pays it direct. Since I don’t have an account here, I go to the local bank pay them cash plus €2 service charge and they pay the ticket – clever!


Photos:
Professor Philip Bell 3#041
Heidelberg 3#003
Heidelberg 3#027
Bicycles at Hauptbahnhof 3#043

Another Month in Heidelberg, Part 4 (Frau ohne Shatten)

On Sunday I decide to drive to Mannheim to look around and maybe go to the opera. I have no trouble finding Mannheim (about 45 minutes) and the Hauptbahnhof in the center of town and park in the underground garage. I ride several different trams around the city taking pictures of Paradeplatz (the center of downtown), a beautiful new pedestrian bridge across the Necker River at Collini Center and Marktplatz, where I have a late lunch/early dinner at a very French outdoor café. I find the National Theater and Opera House and buy a fourth row center ticket (€46 or $65) for Frau ohne Shatten (The Woman without a Shadow) by Richard Strauss; another opera that I have never seen before. A woman without a shadow is one that cannot have children and this opera story is even more convoluted than most. The hall is huge with very steeply raked seats (stadium seating?) no center aisle, no balcony and almost sold out. This production is not modern, it’s ultra modern and the orchestra is big. The huge stage has an enormous turntable in the center, the middle of which is in about four pieces that go up and down and tilt independently, a stage director’s dream or nightmare. The music is wonderful, sometimes atonal and sometimes it reminds me of Rosenkavalier and the Strauss four last songs, my very favorite piece of music. The singing is fabulous with four main female singers; one in a long shimmering silver wig looks spectacular and has an even more spectacular voice. The libretto is by Hugo von Hofmannsthal and in this production, a character on stage. The program notes, dialogue and super-titles are all in German and do not help in my understanding of the story.

The story involves two married couples the Emperor and Empress and Barak, the dyer and his wife. The Empress who is not human: she was caught by the Emperor in the form of a gazelle; assumed human shape and he married her, but she has no shadow symbolizing her inability to bear children. The Empress has a nurse and a messenger arrives from the underworld telling the Nurse that if the Empress does not obtain a shadow within three days, she will be forcibly returned to the underworld and the Emperor will be turned to stone. The Emperor leaves to go on a three-day hunting trip seeking his favorite falcon. The Nurse, who is steeped in magic, suggests finding a woman who will sell her shadow. Now pay attention, because questions will be asked! Barak, the dyer lives in a hut with his wife and three brothers: one is one-eyed, one has only one arm and the third has no legs and gets around on a little wheeled thing. I am not making this up! The Empress and Nurse come to see Barak and his wife and promise her luxuries in exchange for her shadow. Barak’s wife agrees to deny her husband for three days during which the Empress and Nurse, in disguise, will live in the hut with them. The Empress, as a servant helps Barak leave for work and is troubled by what she’s doing. The Nurse conjures up a couple of handsome young men in order to tempt the wife. On stage the youths are in silver body-paint from the waist up and wearing moon-boots! The wife gives up her shadow and when, in the light of morning the dyer sees this, he moves to strike her with a sword that magically appears in his hand. Whereupon, the Empress and Nurse leave on a magic boat. In the last act the Wife, haunted by the voices of unborn children states her love for Barak, who regrets his violence. The Messenger from the underworld condemns the Nurse to wander the earth and the Empress finds her husband almost turned to stone. The dyer and his wife are heard singing off stage and the Empress decides she cannot take away their future happiness. This renunciation gives her a shadow and restores the Emperor to life. The opera ends with both couples singing of their happiness and their unborn children. Today, this opera is considered by many to be Strauss's finest work in the genre, although less frequently produced than some of the others


Photos:
Paradeplatz, Mannheim 3A#009
Pedestrian bridge, Mannheim 3A#017
Marktplatz, Mannheim 3A#020
Nationaltheater, Mannheim 3A#023

Another Month in Heidelberg, Part 3 (Idomeneo)

On Tuesday I went to see “Idomeneo” at the Stadtische Buehne (City Theater), which is fabulous. First there’s a pre-show introduction by the Director, which even in German is helpful. This is Mozart’s first mature opera and was written when he was 25 and living in (close by) Mannheim attempting to obtain a position with the court. Mannheim at that time was one of the major music centers of Europe. The first performance was in 1781 in Munich.

The story is very complicated involving Idomeneo, King of Crete returning after 10 years at the Trojan War with captives including Ilia, a Trojan princess that he is in love with. Now, he also has a wife (Electra, daughter of Agamemnon, the Greek king) and a son, Idamente and the son is also in love with the Trojan princess. A mixed Romeo and Juliet story with Oedipus thrown in! In a huge storm on his way home from Troy, Idomeneo is saved by Neptune and Idomeneo makes a vow to sacrifice to Neptune the first human he sees, when he gets to dry land; it’s of course, his son Idamante, who he does not recognize because its been 10 years! The production is in totally modern dress. The Trojan princess wears a simple evening gown, Idomeneo, a beat-up old army coat and Idamante, the son is played by a woman! Of course the German super-titles do not help much; however the story is not as important as the music and the music is lovely. The singers are fabulous; Idamante, the son is sung by Jana Kurucova, a 25 year old Czech mezzo-soprano with a beautiful, very strong voice. Idomeneo is Winfred Mikus, a German tenor, who has sung in Berlin and the USA. There seems to be an abundance of young, good-looking opera singers in Germany; some German, some foreign-born and mostly trained in Germany. The scenery is very modern, the first and last acts take place in a bombed-out cellar or construction site with lots or ropes; there’s a chorus of 20 and the harpsichordist is on stage. The theater is a small jewel-box with completely up-to-date equipment; the entire pit is on a lift and for the first and last acts the orchestra is level with the audience and the singers appear from among the orchestra!

Saturday evening I go to the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut on Adenaurplatz in Heidelberg for a reading by Annie Proulx. The reading is very interesting; evidently part of a seminar on American literature being held in Heidelberg, cosponsored by the American Embassy in Berlin in part to celebrate the opening of the new embassy building. She’s introduced by the American Culture attaché, himself an interesting man being, as he tells us, German born and a US citizen. Annie Proulx is terrific; she reads most of one of her fabulous short stories that was in the New Yorker a couple of weeks ago. Her touch for the American west and the voices of the cowboys is amazing. Afterwards she answers many questions about where she lives; in Wyoming and it was snowing just a few days ago. She also talks about her writing style and methods and how she had to convince Ang Lee, director of “Brokeback Mountain” to retain the cowboy dialog; Lee wanted to use “New York TV announcer” speech! The reading is in a very large room, filled to capacity with students, expats and other English speakers. There is a real ‘Ugly American’ sitting behind me with a loud, ugly American voice; a professor of English at the University of Heidelberg teaching English and English literature. She spends the half-hour while we’re waiting regaling her friends and neighbors about how poorly she is integrated into the German community, that she has no German friends, all her friends are Americans, Brits and other native English speakers and she, her husband and three children have been in Heidelberg for more than 10 years! By-the-way on Wednesday the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut has an English lesson for children aged between 3 and 5. I believe this is for the kids of over-achievers only!

Annie Proulx, pronounced PRU; born 1935, wrote “Shipping News” (Pulitzer Prize) and “Brokeback Mountain” as a short story. (Wikipedia)

Photos:
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut, Heidelberg 3#070
Adenaurplatz, Heidelberg 3#072
With Karl-Heinz Rippel, Director of ‘F & U Academy’ 3#061

Another Month in Heidelberg, Part 2A

More pictures.

Photos:
Stift Neuburg seminary 2A#018
Heidelberg 2A#023
Marktplatz, Heidelberg 2A#029
Heidelberg Castle 2A#025

Another Month in Heidelberg, Part 2

Today is PFINGSTEN, Whitsun (for “White Sunday”) the seventh Sunday after Easter. In the Christian calendar known as Pentecost, commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. (per Wikepedia)

Later I leave for Handschuhsheim, a suburb of Heidelberg lying north and across the river. I take my usual #29 bus, buy a one-day ticket and at the bottom of the hill change to a #24 tram, which goes through Heidelberg, past the Hauptbahnhof (main station) and drops me at Handschuhsheim, where it’s a 5-minute walk to the Tiefstadt (deep or underground town) a former moated castle whose ruins have been renovated into an entertainment center. I find it absolutely fascinating. The central tower of the old castle has been renovated into a restaurant and dinning room while parts of the old castle courtyard had been roofed over and the whole space filled with tables and benches with people eating and drinking. There’s a huge bar, a grill station selling sausages, schnitzel, German hamburgers and French fries and a large counter serving Kaffee und Kuchen. The town band of about 20 musicians is playing. As I walk through Manuela, my teacher calls me over; she’s sitting with her husband Mike, all three kids and her parents. Her kids are delightful especially the baby Arian, that watches me the whole time with his big blue eyes and Paulina, the middle child that holds my hand when we walk over to get a closer look at the band. Manuela’s father is such a proud Opa continuously having one or two of the kids on his lap or taking them for a walk around or to the restroom. I spend the rest of the afternoon talking with them and feel very much at home. After they leave I buy a cup of coffee and slice of homemade chocolate cake and sit down. Pretty soon an elderly couple (ie. about my age) sit down and start talking to me about the music; by then the town band has been replaced by a very German band all in brown corduroy pants. When the elderly man hears that I’m from California, he wants to know about Hillary and Obama; he’s a retired Gymnasium (Grammar or High School) teacher. We have a lovely conversation; he twice asks if I had German parents or grandparents and eventually I tell him that I was born in Dresden and am spending some time in Heidelberg. Later I tell him the band is too German for my liking, they’re playing drinking songs, and he understands.

I took the tram back to the Hauptbahnhof, which is crowded with people and about the only place with open shops. I buy a London Sunday Times, printed in Brussels, and catch the next tram back to Rohrbach Sud, where the #29 bus to Boxberg is waiting. On Sundays both of these bus and tram- lines run only twice an hour, however they run on time and connect.

Handschuhsheim (literally hand-shoe or glove home) The coat of arms of the local Prince featured a hand wearing a glove.

Next day I spend most of the morning writing up my notes; then drive to Leiman, (pro Lyman) a small town about 20 minutes south to look at the Freuhlingsfest (Spring festival) being held in the center of town. It’s very warm and not too many people about. I have a crepe with Grand Marnier then drive to Stift Neuburg, a Catholic seminary and church located on the hillside across the river from Heidelberg for a special Pfingsttrompeten (Whitsun trumpet) concert. The tiny church is wall-to-wall people and the concert by the Trumpet Consort and Peter Shumann, organist from the Heidelberg cathedral, very interesting. They play music by Diabelli (1781 – 1858) as well as Bach, Mozart and Handel; some parts are a bit ragged; however most are extremely well played and I can follow the program without difficulty. Afterwards I drive along the river stopping to take photos in the late afternoon sunlight.

Photos:
Tiefstadt, Handschuhsheim 2A#001
Manuela, Mike and Arian 2A#005
Joshua, Paullina and grandparents 2A#006
Leiman, Freuhlingsfest 2A#017

Another Month in Heidelberg, part 1

After class I have a quick bite then go to the Israel 60th birthday celebration right in the middle of town. The event is organized by the Students Union of the High School for Jewish Studies with the support of the Oberburgermeister (Lord Mayor) of Heidelberg. There’s an introduction from the German – Israel Committee and an address by Dr. Joachim Gerner, Burgermeister fur Bildung und Kultur (Deputy Mayor for Education and Culture) who had just returned from Israel. I talk to him afterwards about speaking at the local High School. There are information tables from The Friendship Circle Heidelberg – Rehovot (Rehovot, Israel is a sister city) and Die Neuapostolische Kirche (New Apostolic Church – who run a sort of “Jews for Jesus” group) The event also offers a crash-course to learn some Hebrew and later Israeli folk dancing. On the way home I make a quick trip to the little supermarket and find that beer costs €0.40 a half-liter bottle (about 70 cents) plus €. 08 deposit! However the bad news is that for the first time the price for beer at the Munich Oktoberfest will rise to over the €8 mark; that is about $12 a liter!

On Saturday I go over to the Hotel ISG and spend an hour on emails. I cannot access the Internet in my guesthouse. The weather has been lovely and sunny with highs of about 80 and about 50 at night; the humidity seems very low. Montserrat Caballé, the famous opera diva and now 75 is giving a recital this evening in Heilbronn, about an hour away on the road to Stuttgart. Instead I drive down the hill to the huge Famila Shopping Center, which being Saturday is a zoo! I drop off shirts at the cleaners and pay up front €2.50 a shirt (about $3.75) and they’ll be ready on Wednesday. I walk through the enormous supermarket and treat myself to a plastic ice cube tray and a proper coffee mug plus a few other food items for €12. In addition I stop at the Provencal-type olive shop and spend another €10 on olives, hummus and a delicious cream cheese spread.

Later I drive into Heidelberg, stop at my favorite bar by the cathedral and have a very special experience. I order a beer, when a gentleman comes over and asks if he can sit down. We start talking and I tell him that I’m in Heidelberg taking German lessons. He asks where and I tell him “F & U Academy”. He laughs and says that he’s the Director, his name is Karl-Heinz Rippel; such a coincidence! We have a lovely conversation in German, with him correcting me every once in a while. He apologizes and I tell him that I appreciate it. I also tell him about living in Boxberg, he gives me his card and suggests that I come to see him and he will help. I talk about moving to Wiesbaden and he thinks it a bad idea. “Wiesbaden like Baden Baden and Bad Homberg are very quiet and only for old people! Heidelberg and Munich are lively with lots of young people and lots to do”. He is right about Heidelberg; if I lived in town I could go to a concert or other event every night.

We part and I go to the organ concert in the cathedral. The concert is very interesting and includes works by Buxtehude, Bach and César Franck. I talk to two Americans, one an organist, who explains that this Steinmeyer organ is about 10 years old; many German church organs were installed or rebuilt for the 2000 Centennial. This pipe organ is air driven (by electricity) and the pedals and keys are all mechanically connected to the pipes; however there are also electronic connections, which regulate the pipes. Fascinating!

Photos:
Heidelberg 2A#012
Israel Day, Heidelberg 2#003
Israel Day, Heidelberg 2#002
Cathedral, Heidelberg 2#005