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Halle: Day One

Quick recap.  Yours truly got a call at the very last minute to go with my choir to Happy Birthday Händel in Halle, Germany.  Of course I said yes, so on Thursday I left for Berlin, then onward on a bus to Halle, which is just outside Leipzig.

I don’t fly well, but the flight was smooth, except for the landing which was bumpy all the way until the captain slammed the 737 into the ground far harder than necessary.  Then we piled into the bus for a two hour trip to Halle.  There is nothing to see between Berlin and Halle.

One of the disadvantages to being last-minute was that I didn’t have an opportunity to learn the songs my choir would be doing at the “Music Near and Far” concert on Friday night.  They ran through them on the bus and I got the hang of the melodies, or at least as well as was possible considering we were singing on a bus.   I still don’t know the words.

We got into Halle at about 6:30 in the evening.  Our bus driver made a wrong turn so we had to hop off and walk the last bit to get to the hall where we were rehearsing.  We were quickly ushered to the last empty seats and then Proinnsías Ó Duinn set off. I wasn’t thrilled with him the first night, but it’s always like that with a new conductor until I learn to read them a little. 

If you think this event sounds like something you might want to do, make sure you really know the work before you head there.  There is no mollycoddling or do-overs if you’re not sure about an entrance.  We ran through everything except Hallelujah and only stopped a couple times to fix some weird tempo things that were happening.

After rehearsal we went to Händel’s statue to sing for him for his birthday.  Big tradition, very important.  On the way there it was decided that we wouldn’t just do a birthday song, but also one of the pieces the choir had rehearsed for the concert the next night.  It did not go well.  The sopranos at the back didn’t hear the conductor give the note to start and I think we ended up in three different keys.  Jokes about 12-tone Swedish music were made for the rest of the weekend.

The Irish choir did Danny Boy, which I have on video on my phone if anyone is interested.  The Japanese choir did a lovely song, and the local German choir sang as well.

After that Händel himself led us to the pub, Diebels am Händelshaus, where the back half was reserved all three nights for singers.  A really nice place with incredibly patient and fun waitresses who probably do this every year and know what to expect.  The food was great, the beers were large and cold, and everything was cheap.  Never did I have an evening at the pub that cost more than 20EUR.

In the pub, there was a piano, and an Anton.  Anton plays the piano, whatever song you want.  If he doesn’t know the song, he will make up a comp for you anyway.  The Irish choir singers that were there sort of led the evening’s singing.  Standards, stuff from musicals, lots of Beatles since everyone knows those.

I followed a couple of Swedes back to the hotel where we met up with more of our choir in the bar.  Shortly after a couple of the Irish singers from the pub turned up.  One of them saw me drinking whiskey, and when he found out my name was Erin is was decided that I was Irish. 

Bed: 2:30 in the morning.