Living in Germany: Queen Brenda

Another week has gone by, and in that time I've been to Frankfurt and back, learned a little about German Constitutional Law and German Tax Law, and explored more of Hamburg. Meanwhile, Brenda has opened and closed an opera and continued rehearsals for another. Basically, it's been a typical week for Chenda in Germany.

Brenda's two performances of Maria Stuarda last week were fantastic. I know, I always say that about her performing, but it's not my fault - she's always fantastic! I wasn't able to be at the first performance on Wednesday, but I went to the second (and final) performance on Friday. There were apparently quite a few reviewers at the performances because Oper Frankfurt's press person has sent Brenda a bunch of reviews. They've all been glowing, and we thought we should share one with you (plus you get to see Brenda in her red dress!).

The title says basically, "A song competition for queens in the old opera house." The first paragraph goes on to say, "Wow, was that great! Two absolute queens in a relentless voice battle. [I have no idea how to translate the third sentence.] They delivered a contest without a loser." The fifth paragraph that starts with Brenda's name says in part, "Brenda Rae in the title role is unbelievable. Her voice was so tender, so high, so strong, and had so much stamina. You could easily faint - from excitement." And the text next to her picture says, "Breathtaking, the dress and the voice: Brenda Rae excites as the queen in 'Maria Stuarda.'" Another reviewer referred to Brenda as a "new star in the bel canto sky." (Bel canto refers to Italian operas from a certain time period.)

So there you have it. Brenda opens another opera (Giulio Cesare) a week from Sunday. After that she'll get a break from rehearsals and get to focus on performances and learning new music. And she will get to come spend more time with me in northern Germany and see how they do Christmas markets around here.

As the end of the semester looms ever closer, I've realized that I need to finish doing all of those things I wanted to do while living in Hamburg. I checked one thing off the list this past week; I went to one of Hamburg's many museums. The museum had a modern art exhibition and a photography exhibition. I enjoyed it, felt very cultured afterwards, and plan on visiting another Hamburg museum soon.

Everyday on my way to and from school I walk by a prison. It's a pleasant enough building (except for the barbed wire), and I don't usually pay too much attention to it as I walk by. That is, of course, unless I'm walking by in the evening. On Monday nights I am in class until 8:15, and every time I walk to the subway after class there are people on the street having conversations with prisoners who are talking from windows in the prison. As you might imagine, there is quite a bit of distance between the street and the prisoners' windows (70 or 80 yards maybe), but that doesn't prevent conversations. It just means that every Monday night I walk by a handful of people standing on the sidewalk who are chatting (aka yelling) at their friends or loved-ones in prison. It doesn't bother me at all. Actually, I think it's kind of nice that the prisoners get unofficial extended visiting hours. However, it seems to be against the rules...