VALENTINE'S DAY 2021

 HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY ALL

Check out a really fabulous 4K Romantic Piano Music playlist that should last you 90 minutes, probably just long enough to read the news somewhere other than FB

It's a really big help / support if you check it out and take a listen. It's a mix of German lieder and opera classics.

4K HD LINK: https://youtu.be/U8qrJ8SknB4

Wagner's GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG

Hi all, 

The Corona Virus pandemic and subsequent lockdown period has affected us all, not just in Berlin, Germany, or Europe, but the entire world. 

Unfortunately the performing arts industry has been significantly impacted by the restrictions. In a city like Berlin, which is the only city in the world to support three state opera houses, for both performers and audiences alike, the lack of live opera performance has been sole destroying. 

Though the houses are tentatively opening their doors for an initial 4 month season, it is unlikely that we will be able to enjoy the grandeur of the large scale operatic works. 

Therefore I share with you here, a piano accompaniment to the final instalment of Richard Wagner's epic "Ring des Nibelungen" cycle: Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods). 

If you love the music, I hope you enjoy this performance. If you are a singer, I hope that it is of some use for you practicing along to the accompaniment. 

Please subscribe to the YouTube channel, and feel free to like and share the recordings. 

Hopefully we get back to the live performances sooner rather than later. 

MJT

Götterdämmerung. 1.Aufzug (First Act)

Götterdämmerung. 2.Aufzug (Second Act)

Götterdämmerung. 3.Aufzug (Third Act)

 

winterREISE

winterREISE in Youth Detention Centre

I don't often write about my work or personal life on this blog, but rather recommendations of where to visit and enjoy Berlin. However I wish to make an exception, because of the unexpected nature and uplifting experience of my work today. 

As a musician we become very accustomed to and comfortable in the concert hall, theatre or practice room - but my relationship with Lieder, in this case Schubert's Winterreise, today led me to an unusual situation - a workshop inside a prison for youths. 

Care of winterreise.gefaengnistheater.de

The initiative "Gefängnistheater (Prison Theatre) has been working on this winterREISE project for three years, and has taken the Schubert Song Cycle and used the texts, music and expression, to involve the detainees in an art experiment. 

I was there with an outstanding colleague, dramatic mezzo soprano, Christin-Marie Hill, to perform a selection of songs from the original cycle of 24 in their original classical form. An example of "Gute Nacht" (good night) is performed below by two of Berlin's most famous artistic residents, Baritone Thomas Quasthoff and pianist Daniel Barenboim. 

The majority of the afternoon was spent evolving the original texts into rap responses, performed by the detainees, and myself improvising at the piano, while Christin-Marie added sung refrains and an eclectic mix of jazz, soul, operatic and pop to the ordered rap. 

What struck me the most was not the setting (I had to keep reminding myself that I was actually in a prison), but the genuine response and enthusiasm that these young men (16-23) had to both the classical version of these Lieder (songs) and their own interpretation and response via rap that could relate to their own experiences and lives. 

care of winterreise.gefaengnistheater.de

I would love to post some of the rap verses, which were not only quite poetic in structure, but gave an interesting insight into their lives and past experiences. However there is a performance planned in Autumn (beginning of October), where their interpretations will be presented. Unfortunately I don't know whether it is an open performance, but regardless I feel like the experience and purpose of what is being achieved here is of great importance for rehabilitation and cultural appreciation. 

care of www.berlin.de

That in a prison setting these Lieder can have such a powerful effect, continue to evolve and be relevant, was quite an uplifting and genuinely enjoyable experience for me. I believe the inmates were also extremely grateful and respectful for the day that we shared.

For further information on this programme, which is supported by the EU Union and multiple government initiatives, visit their website in german at: http://winterreise.gefaengnistheater.de/

And to finish with, a clip of my all time favourite Lieder interpreter, the late Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau performing "Letzte Hoffnung" (last hope) from "Winterreise".