Miriam's visit and Munch land

I had too many themes to cover in one post, so I split them up...hehe

Miriam visited me the beginning of May and mand was it great. well...I should amend that

When Miriam arrived. It was the first time I have felt like someone who is close to me really did not belong somewhere. I reallized eventually that she was the first person who I knew more than 9 months ago to see my life in Mannheim and see it close up and personal. I have seen a few old friends here but usually they were more acquaintances and I saw them in Heidelberg or London. Suddenly, I had one of my 'closest' friends injected into a life that was to that point completely new, separate from my life in the States, and completely mine. I went from being in a city of congenial but generally formal strangers (the Serbians are a bit different) to being with someone who I was expected to be (and wanted to be) intimate with emotionally and physically. Mannheim has not, and especially up to that point, not been a place of much intimacy. That and rainy weather made the first couple of days honestly a little akward. However! hehe...they were still very enjoyable and it was very nice to have a close friend with me AND to be a TOURIST. hehe.

Miriam left after a couple of days spent mostly in Mannheim, Heidelberg and the surrounding area. After visiting her sister in Prague she returned and we made a trip to The Mosel Valley and stayed in a really cute little Bread and Breakfast. Then things were purely wonderful. We saw castles, rode bikes, hiked, got caught in the rain hungry wet and cold (we ended up in a nice chinese restaurant trying to hide the fact that we were dripping wet) and had great conversations.

The only downside to Miriam visiting was that by the time she left I was knee deep in rehearsal and making up the work I had put off while she was here.

Oh yeah! The day she left, in order to distract myself, I made a trip to München (Munich). I used a website called Mitfahrgelegenheit which is basically a carpool website. I made it to Munich and back for 35€ and spent probably 70 dollars on food, opera tickets, and local transportation for about 2 1/2 days in Munich!

I also saw John Relyea in Le Nozze di Figaro and Bryn Terfel and Matti Salminen in Die Fliegender Holländer. Figaro was decent. Definitely worth the trip. Relyea was good though a little...unclear production. I felt like there was a bit of damming of the airflow either from tongue manipulation or tense breath control (My taste really has changed a bit this year). Holländer was amazing! I had seen Die Meistersinger in Mannheim but was very tired, it was a strange insinierung and The voices ver mediocre. But hearing Terfel and Salminen (I couldn't actually see them because the seats were really cheap) was amazing. The orchestra was fabulous and you really FELT the music. I have heard enough Wagner I have really started to notice the Leitmotivs and that made it all the more interesting. I had heard Terfel twice before in person and always found him very good but had yet to be blown away. This times, I was. I think this role was essentially written for him. I could see why Wagner wanted his music song legatto (so often not the case these days). In a relatively small European house, with a great orchestra, he was really able to show his stuff. I still don't know if I think he would be a good Wotan. I still want a bit more growl for the King of the Gods, but man...Holländer...I won't forget that any time soon.