I had a pleasant surprise today. As I was walking through the Altmarkt, I noticed they were setting up for an outdoor concert. After a little investigating I discovered it was to take place tonight-- a free, open-air concert! And how could I pass that up? So I got there around 6 to save myself a spot, as I figured it would get crowded quickly, which it did. The program was made up of orchestral and choral music (sung by five local choirs) including pieces by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Mussorgsky and Shostakovitch. The most delightful surprise was when the choirs started singing the Volkslieder, the people in the audience joined in. This is the stuff they were raised on! But just so you don't think it was all highbrow, the concert ended with an apparently famous Russian DJ, Vladamir Kaminer, who did an all night disco jam and also served as the hilarious - based on the reactions around me - MC. What is even funnier about this is a little old lady accosted me on the way out begging me for my program so she could get this Russian DJ's autograph. Do German grannies get down with Russian disco?? Apparently so!
