The Wind in Leipzig

So this post was actually written on the train as we head away from Leipzig and toward Berlin. But it will decidedly be about Leipzig.

Chapel at the University of Leipzig

 First and foremost, I would like to say the wind in Leipzig is insane. I was just walking down the street minding my own business when the wind assaulted me after knocking down several street signs and accosting the others walking around me. Others in the class seemed to share similar slightly horrifying experiences. But the city itself fairly navigable, which makes it easy to wander and not even worry about getting lost. Also Primark is a magical clothing store that almost everyone got items from.

The Gewandhaus Orchestra has to be my favorite concert to date. The history of the building itself is interesting as it is the third one where the orchestra has performed. They first relocated in the 1800's when they needed a bigger space and this second new building was bombed during World War II. The current and third iteration of the Gewandhaus has been standing since 1981. And the venue is beautiful. Seats fill the entire hall above the orchestra, even behind where they sit. We had the opportunity to sit in these seats and it was such and interesting experience to be able to see the conductor's face and the sheet music of the members of the orchestra. They played a piece by Max Bruch and then Mahler 4th Symphony after intermission. It was fun to be able to hear what an influence nature had on Mahler. Also Carl, Matt, and Paige were all extremely nice and answered my plethora of questions about conducting and instruments at intermission. With my newfound knowledge, I had a lot more fun watching the performance rather than simply listening to the music. But watching is also a lot of fun.

The Gewandhaus, behind the orchestra

Leipzig is also the home of Felix Mendelssohn. We got the privilege to see the place where he and his family actually lived. The ground floor was an interactive area where visitors got to conduct pieces of Mendelssohn's music while the next floor up is the actual apartment of the Mendelssohn family. As we followed our guide, I noticed we got to walk up stairs that were the original from the 19th century. The really interesting part of the visit, however, was the top floor exhibit which was dedicated to Fanny (Mendelssohn) Hensel, sister to Felix. I would have to argue that she may have been even more talented than her brother. If you so desire, listen to her series of compositions she gifted her husband titled The Year.

Last but certainly not least is another statue update. Unfortunately there were not that many statues spotted during our stay in Leipzig. But I am happy to say that Courtney and I got 2 for 2 in this city. Ok, so technically one was Bach -which is super easy considering he lived in Leipzig for many years and the statue was across from the Bach Museum. The other was Johann Wolfgang van Goethe, and Dr. Powell told us who it was before we even got there. So maybe Leipzig was the city for cheating at the statue game. Hopefully we'll have better luck in Berlin!