Semperoper Kammerabend

I was wandering aimlessly today and then stumbled upon the Semperoper box office. I decided to take a look and see what was going on tonight and what was coming up... Well, it just so happened that tonight was a Kammerabend (Chamber evening), all tickets 10€! And since I hadn't even seen the inside of the opera house, I decided to go for it. They had a sample program there; I was chagrined to realize I didn't recognize hardly any of the Baroque composers listed. I think the only one that sort of rang a bell was Biber; but this only made me more intrigued. Hmm, music I may never have heard before!

So, conveniently the tram line in front of my apartment is only 5 minutes from Semperoper, so it was very easy to get to (oh, I could get used to this!). When you approach the opera house for the performance, it appears to be not quite open. This is the mystery I face every time I walk by it. When, if ever, can you go in and take a tour or something? But upon closer inspection, you see the side doors have red curtains gently pulled back, and two ushers waiting to open the door for you. What service! European opera houses are much smaller than their American counterparts. I think they are much more musician friendly and have very cozy if opulent walkways; the Semperoper is no different. A series of vaulted ceilings with green, gilt, and fresco like paintings sort of create a tree canopy effect as you walk through to the auditorium...

This beautiful theater (completely rebuilt in 1985) has all the typical opulence of the Romantic era: cherubs, gods, and of course, the famous German and Austrian composers who look down on you from the ceiling and the proscenium curtain. With the curtain down, the orchestra pit is covered, thus creating an intimate space for the performers.

A charming Roman numeral clock above the stage ticks the minutes away until showtime... The musicians took an awful long time to tune and set up; as a singer, this always cracks me up. What would the audience do if singers came out before performances and warmed up in front of the audience?! Anyway, they used genuine Baroque instruments... the most unique one was what appeared to be a lute with an extended neck (Theorbe, auf Deutsch). I feel like I should know what this instrument is, but I had never seen one before. It didn't keep in tune very well either. When he tuned it for the second piece, you could hear that it was very flat. Overall the sound of these Baroque instruments were a bit softer than their modern counterparts. This is another marvel of the smaller theater house; how wonderful that you can have an intimate chamber concert in the same hall you put on opera theater!

Anyway, the overall sound of the ensemble was warm, though the violinist's tone became a bit strident in some of her quicker runs. The violinist was not pleased with her performance and showed her displeasure at the curtain call; I was a little surprised, being an American performer that always smiles when she bows, no matter if she knows she has screwed up.

The second half was much livlier with several pieces with "Clarini" or miniature -no, not clarinets-- but piccolo trumpets. Oh, and by the way, the program is a mish-mash of European languages; makes for interesting reading. The trumpets are referred to elsewhere as Trumpeten, which obviously makes more sense. But the composer, who was German, wrote the piece for Clarini, which is Italian... go figure.

The trumpet players made excellent use of the acoustics of the theater. The full ensemble was seven players. In a piece for five, they put the extra two in the low balconies that hang above the proscenium for extra support of the sound. There was also a call and response that, from what I can figure, they did from outside the back of the hall.

There was also a timpani duet written by the French composer Philidor. I could not figure for the life of me where it was meant to fit in among the "Prelude des divertissments" or "Prelude to fun"... what kind of fun could the French Court be preparing for with a drum duet? Interesting...

This leads me to an amusing thought I had in the middle of the concert. All the music presented tonight was either written to be a dance, for during presentations at Court or a party, or even--dare I say it?-- background music at Baroque parties. Now, we the highbrow public, patiently watch and listen, meanwhile the composer had wanted to motivate his audience to dance or at least divert attention to whomever was the main attraction of the day...

On my way out, I got an inch thick "Spielzeit" or program for the upcoming events of the theater (for free). And the coolest part of it was that it contains a cut out mask complete with elastic string for your personal amusement. :)

Overall, a great first impression of the local opera house. Once again, how can you beat Europe? Ten euros and a feast for the eyes and ears? Can't lose!