Well, it's been a busy week here in Saarburg. Monday night was our night "off," so that was the evening the Mayor of Saarburg (a very generous man) treated the faculty and staff to a lovely dinner. It was epic, and we all rolled away without any more room in our tummies.
Tuesday, we had the first student recital of the week. It was at Mannebacher Brauerei. The Brauerei is a lovely venue, with an outdoor Beirgarten near the modern addition to the building. The actual concert was in the modern addition, and the sound was actually quite nice -- just the right amount of live.
Random observation: The "simplest" waltzes are sometimes the most difficult to play! Still fun.
It's been raining all week, so we were quite glad that Tuesday and Wednesday venues were indoors. Wednesday night, the venue was a very beautiful, modern-looking "Atrium" in Orscholz. It had a nice natural feel to it, because the entire indoor was made from light-colored, non-finished wood, which reminded me of knotty pine. Who knows, it could have BEEN knotty pine -- I don't know my wood grains well enough. Whatever kind of wood it was, it was beautiful and the decision to not varnish it was perfect. The sound space was much drier than the other venues so far, so I got to use LOTS of pedal the entire time. It was fun, though a bit disconcerting at times, haha! It's strange to know that you want to play staccato, and still need to use a bit of pedal for that. All in all, though, the concert went well. All of the students are very well prepared, and it was great to get to see and hear them.
Thursday's concert was outdoors, in a place called Schmelz. This concert was the farthest away so far, at approximately 60 minutes away by bus. The performance was outdoors, underneath a lovely giant white tent. The atmosphere was a little more informal since there was no formal backstage area, but it was actually quite nice to be able to basically sit in the audience before going on stage. The audience was so supportive and really enthusiastic. I had a short chat with a lovely couple who actually remembered me from last year, and expressed excitement that I had transitioned from student to "staff." Another charming older gentleman asked me what it meant to be a "guest artist" instead of a "guest faculty." I explained that the main difference was they asked me to play for lessons and a few groups, and the main difference is I am not actually teaching anyone.
Schmelz: The new performer "green room" was so fascinating. It was on the second floor of an older house. This older house sat literally on top of a small stream, with a water wheel providing power to the house. The top floor room where we were for the beginning of our time there was a museum of sorts, titled "The History of the Anabaptists." We did not have very much time in that room, or I would have tried to figure out what significance this particular place had in the history of the Anabaptists. Even without knowing the significance of this location, it was fascinating: there was an old pump organ with LOTS of voices (!), some interesting looking farm equipment, and a few strange looking mannicans dressed in old-style clothing. I loved the outdoorsy, farm-type feel of the entire place.
So far, each of the venues have fed all the performers. The Brauerei gave us this amazing penne pasta dish, with a vodka-type sauce mixed with zucchini squash and other amazing veggies. It was SO good! But it was also SO much food. The Wednesday venue gave us cold-cut sandwiches, for which I was very thankful. (After awhile, you just can't continue to eat such large quantities of heavy food!) Last night, the Schmelz provided brats with a bread handle. Authentically German and very tasty. Though, I do notice my body is craving some more vegetables at this point. I am seriously considering buying a broccoli floret in the grocery store downstairs and just having that for dinner!
Tonight - Friday - is the one concert this week I have "off." Since I have been getting a little bit carsick during the bus rides, I think I will sit this one out and have a rather boring night here in Saarburg. I say "boring" but I really mean fun and restful and filled with lack of bus rides and an early bedtime. Then, tomorrow is the last student concert, followed by the farewell dinner, and it is going our separate ways on Sunday morning. The two weeks have flown by and have been filled to the brim with as much as possible.
Oh, and be warned: I have a grand total of something like 15-17 hours of layover on the way back, so I'm sure I will retroactively update different adventures here. Prepare for the random!
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