Explosive Vivaldi?

I just played my first concert as "audible" oboist basically since coming to Germany. The concerts I played this summer were on English horn, which was nice, but wasn't oboe. And the past 2 conservatory concerts I played with were never solo parts. So it was really fun to play Vivaldi's "Gloria" with choir this weekend. The choir was a church choir, so mostly older folks, but compared to the little old ladies with so much vibrato you can't hear the notes, these ladies just had very airy, not-supported voices. It was kind of funny because, even though I'm no singer and can even sound airy, I'd have to try to sound this airy and unenthused.

But the concert went well and the little chamber orchestra accompanying the choir was really good. I just love string players in Germany... Even the ones that don't study music love playing for fun and are really good. I was happy with my performance, using the school's oboe (mine has a leak and this one is SO nice..but not for sale) and the new shape and scrape of reeds. And like I said, it was my first "solo" performance (one movement was oboe and soprano) so it was almost like I hadn't heard myself play in an orchestral setting for so long and felt good.

I ended up sitting next to a trumpet player from California who studies at the same music school as me. We have both been there for 2 1/2 semesters, but hadn't met, or even seen each other before. He was really nice. It's always fun to meet another American and have a chance to speak in English with another native speaker, and now I'll know another music school student.

I also had a nice weekend outside of the gig. I hung out with my German friend Janine and Turkish friend Ulas at a nice little cocktail bar and then headed to the Arabic lounge for mango juice. It was a really fun time with a lot of laughing, which felt good. This morning I went to bruch with Ulas and his Turkish friend and wife. It was a very fancy breakfast buffet on the main level of the Arabic Loung with things like stuffed mushrooms, olive and mozerella salads, and tiramisu for dessert. I stuck to more conventional things like bread and cheese and fruit salad because the thought of corn on the cob with seasoning just didn't appeal to me at 10am.

Last week I attended a Christmas party I had been invited to from the company I did the English tour recordings with. It was a fancy, private buffet in a really nice restaurant. I met some nice people and got to chat with the guy who I did the recordings with. They are in the process of finishing and selling the recordings to i-tunes and plan on doing more tours in the future, for which they asked if I would translate and record. We'll see how much time I have. If everything goes as planned I will be busy next semester preparing my Master's recital and chamber music concert.

That same night a bomb was found in downtown Berlin. A bomb? From when? From 60 years ago in WWII! Apparently, and this surprised me, there were many bombs that were dropped during the war that never went off. Over time the land was totally rebuilt and the bombs were unknowingly covered by dirt and buildings. Occasionally a construction worker controlling a digger or bulldozer will come across one of these bombs. Metal detectors are used to check the land while the ground is being dug, but sometimes bombs are overlooked. In Germany the job of a bulldozer has the nickname of "death sentence job" because of this risk.

Last week, the bomb was found at a construction site on one of Berlin's main streets downtown. The area was quickly blocked off and traffic was stopped so the bomb could be removed. It didn't explode and luckily no one was hurt. So that was an interesting piece of history that I learned from the whole event!

p.s. I want to thank Sarah for the lovely Christmas picture and card she sent me all the way to Germany!! It was fun to read the year's summary and the family picture was so nice; I have it up on my fridge!