On the same day that we went to the concentration camp, we
attended a performance featuring clarinetist Sabine Meyer, and the Alliage
Quintet. It was my favorite performance so far! The performers were so
expressive, and they had so much energy! The communication among the performers
was spot-on; it was obvious that each person had an extensive knowledge of the
other parts with which they were interacting. In addition, the performers made
eye contact with one another to increase musical communication, and really
seemed to be having fun performing. It was one of the most engaging performances
I have ever attended!
A couple of days later, we visited the Pergamon museum. I
really enjoyed seeing all of the Mesopotamian artifacts. It was really cool to
know that items that were built hundreds and hundreds of years ago are still
available to view today. I don’t know how they were preserved for so long, but
it’s really amazing to know that very ordinary items that were probably
worthless when they were created are now priceless. My favorite part of the
museum was seeing the Ishtar Gate, with all of its blue glazed bricks. I
remember that pictures of it were included in my sixth-grade history textbook, back
when I studied Mesopotamian history, so I really enjoyed getting to see the
real thing for myself.
I also got to see the museum’s Aleppo room, featuring Islamic
artwork from Aleppo, Syria. It’s so intricate, and beautiful. It’s really sad
that much of Aleppo’s historical artifacts were destroyed by war in recent
years. Aleppo once had one of the most well-preserved historical sites in the
world. I really enjoyed seeing other artifacts in the Islamic art exhibit as
well. It is really cool that those artifacts were preserved so well over the
years. I thought it was particularly interesting that elements of Chinese art
appeared in forms that were so similar to the original Chinese styles. I thought that the dragon and phoenix motifs
featured on various plates seemed very true to their source material, as
opposed to being lightly based on Chinese art.
Concert hall where Sabine Meyer and Alliage Quintet performed
Ishtar Gate of Babylon at the Pergamon Museum
Aleppo Room at the Pergamon Museum
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