Yesterday I celebrated spring by going to see Bach's St Matthew's Passion (Matthaus Passion) at the Berlin Konzerthaus. I'd never been to the Konzerthaus before and was pretty amazed by how nice it was - huge chandeliers, plush red velvet seating and gold painted details everywhere. It really all felt a bit spiffy! lol
The concert was played by the Berlin Sinfonietta, the Berlin Kantorei and Berliner Madchenchor. The conductor of the whole thing (Sung Jun Park) looked really young too so I was pretty impressed!
The reason why I really wanted to go and see this concert was that I used to be in a choir when I was a kid and we sang this every year at easter - so I was feeling really nostalgic about the whole thing. I had read that the whole uncut version lasts for three and a half hours but doubted they would play the whole thing.
How wrong was I!?
As the whole thing just kept going and going, quite a few people got up to leave towards the end or just didn't come back at all after the interval (although maybe they just found better seats). I was probably about the youngest person in the audience but other people around my age were the ones upping and leaving - and I have to say that if I wasn't familiar with the music and feeling so nostalgic about the whole thing I might have started to get itchy feet myself!
Anyway, all in all I really enjoyed it! And it even made me want to take up the violin again - those violin solos are lovely!
I thought of going to the cinema afterwards to see Green Zone, but seeing at it was nearly midnight by the time I got out, I'd missed all the movie showings. Instead I decided to amble home, enjoying the warmer weather and taking time to look at the window displays on Friedrich strasse... Incidentally I got SOAKED on the way to the concert but strangely I was the ONLY person who was wet... everyone else looked at me and was like 'oh is it raining outside?' errrr YES! lol... obviously just on me though! lol
Sooo, when I got back, my housemate had just finished watching a boxing match (he looked shocked that I didn't know who had played - so I guess it was a biggie!) and was eager to go for a drink. So we went to his fave local called the Clash - a punk bar which was apparently the birthplace of the Baader Meinhof terrorist group!
My flatmate got so drunk that when we got home and he couldn't take his shoes off, he sliced them off with a kitchen knife! lol... Needless to say he was a little worse for wear this morning!
Well... yet again I'm loving these contrasts of Berlin - sublime Bach one minute punk terrorism the next! ;)
Till next time, over and out! :)
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