My Experience in Leipzig

I really enjoyed the Gewandhaus Orchestra’s performance. The violin soloist was incredible! The way that he played the music sounded so effortless, and he seemed very comfortable on stage. I especially loved how resonant his sound was, as he demonstrated during his encore piece. Even after he stopped bowing, his sound continued to fill the hall. The orchestra was also very responsive. I have never seen a soloist cue the orchestra directly, and it was very exciting to see that the ensemble members reacted to the soloist’s directions as well as those of the conductor. In addition, it was obvious that the members of the ensemble were very familiar with each other’s parts, not just their own, as various sections blended their sounds with others, especially during call-and-response portions of the music. Throughout the performance, the seeing a flute section with a combination of wooden and metal flutes was interesting. They sounded very good, although it felt a little strange, in that I am used to seeing wooden flutes in more intimate settings, such as smaller chamber ensembles rather than in an orchestra.

I really enjoyed visiting the Mendelssohn House. I think that seeing some of the compositions of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn after learning about them in my Music History class last semester changed my perspective of their music in that I felt much more connected to the music that I had studied earlier. I especially enjoyed the conducting simulator on the ground floor. It was really fun to feel like I was conducting a full orchestra. I think I actually had less freedom in my beat patterns with the simulation because it was sometimes difficult to control the tempo that the digital instruments were taking. Also, I found that since the baton had to be in a specific area for the sensor to register the beats, my pattern became very small and restricted in movement. However, it was still a thrilling experience to be able to conduct the simulation.

I also enjoyed the performance of the boys’ choir and orchestra. The members of the choir sang so well, and were very attentive to the conductor’s gestures. It really seems like those singers are serious about pursuing music as careers. The orchestra was fabulous. When the concertmaster stood to play the duet with the singer, he seemed totally immersed in the music, as demonstrated by his bodily movement as he was playing. Even later on, when the string instruments were playing single notes as accompaniment, they still played so expressively, and were completely attuned to the musical gestures that the singer was doing, complementing the singer’s musical expressions with their own, despite the relatively sparse texture. The conductor was truly a joy to watch. Although his entire body was moving a lot with the music, he was still able to clearly communicate what he wanted to hear from the choir and orchestra. His impulse of will was extremely powerful, and very effective.

I have really enjoyed my time in Leipzig, and I look forward to continuing to explore Berlin!

My view of the Gewandhaus Orchestra (pre-performance)

One of two organs in St. Thomas Church