GMC in Europe 2008

Just a quick note I thought would be of interest: Today I saw a patient, a lovely lady of 60, who hails originally from Romania.  I relayed tales of my recent travels with the GMC and she in turn proceeded with an amazing tale of communist-era defection. 

The tale goes that about 40 years ago she was a 20-something member of a Romanian choir touring Austria.  She had purposely packed light all the while planning to defect.  At a moment when herr director’s eyes were elsewhere, she ran off to find asylum in the American embassy.  Apparently several of her compatriots had the same idea because before long half the choir showed up at the embassy.  After spending 5 months at an Austrian refuge camp, she secured an American sponsor and has been here ever since! 

Fascinating stuff the way she tells it complete with accent, and the ebbs and flows of escapist reportage.

So…there it is.

Related entry: Pickpockets in Prague

Remember the old Batman show with all the ker-pows, blam and ooof graphics during the fight scenes?  John and I were walking back one lovely morning to our hotel in Prague when an overgrown child gyspy, ok, maybe just some 20 something punk, walked by, reached into John’s pocket and man, he just didn’t see it coming.  Too bad the graphics were missing but I think I can say that the moves we pulled were just too fast to add graphics.  Guess it was all those Bond movies too…must tell mom that the boob tube came in handy!

John and I walked away totally unscathed, unafraid and feeling quite proud of our tag teaming that helped vanquish the potential thief.  We taught him a lesson he won’t soon forget…never underestimate the power of two guys with grey hair after a few Pilsners!  We made sure he would never bother any of you again! 

See you at the gym or the bar!  Rich

Dear GMC’ers who toured and who waited,

While vistas, music and food (and Rich’s Lime Juice) were an amazing part of our tour, I cannot help but say I will miss the people the most.  There were a few folks who stood out, like Ian and Peter, our guides from Scotland and England respectively along the way to make it a ton of fun.

But what will always make me smile are those many moments of connecting with our many wonderful chorale folks.  Truly, we learned lots about each other; it has added a dimension of opening up a lot more and seeing sides of folks that we never saw before.  Yes Colin, there is really a 20-year-old Rich inside this 50-year-old man!

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Now that I’ve had a day to sleep, I’m starting to troubleshoot the problem with posting photos directly on the blog. Also, I’m picking up Dennis’ video this afternoon, and should have some video posted here. Alison recorded the final concert in Prague, and I will post some excerpts from that as well.

Finally, working on a little photo contest, and I hope to have details of that ready for tomorrow evening’s GMC rehearsal.

After close to seven thousand miles traveled and ten days on the road, the GMC Europe touring group returned home safely this evening.

For about half of us, the day started with a 5:30 a.m. (CEST) wake-up call. (That would be 11:30 p.m. EDT, yesterday.) We were packed, through with breakfast, and on our bus by 7 a.m., and from the hotel straight to the airport, where we boarded a 9:25 a.m. flight to Amsterdam. Of course, it was delayed by 10 minutes, which only cut into the four-hour layover time.

We departed Amsterdam at about 3:15 p.m. CEST (9:15 a.m. EDT), and touched down in Boston at 5 p.m. EDT. As I write this, having arrived home about an hour ago, I’m a little surprised to acknowledge I’ve been up for the past 24 hours. Where did the time go?

Of course, there will be much to write, and much to show you…but we did want all of you reading the blog to know we are back safe and sound.

Best wishes to all.  Enjoy the sites, songs, folks and food!  I am sure your audiences are and will be enriched by  your performances. 

We, who remain here to anchor the home front,  look forward to your triumphant return and our concert.   Be well and have a great time. 

Steve Azzaro

Salzburg really is a beautiful city. And, there is plenty to see.

But, it seems to have a “complex” of some kind in relationship to Vienna. Our tour guide on Tuesday morning, a lovely Viennese native who has lived in Salzburg for years, said:

Vienna styles itself as the center of Austria; after all, it is the national capital, and it has many inhabitants. But, the citizens of Salzburg secretly think that Vienna thinks too much of itself, and that in fact Salzburg is the better city.

Well, I’m not sure if they’re correct about that. The shops were certainly competing to see who could be the best vendor of “Mozart Balls,” the strange chocolates wrapped in likenesses of W. Amadeus himself. The funicular ride to the famous Festung Hohensalzburg (the town’s imposing fortress/castle) was clean and efficient and quick (although because it was efficient, it also took a while for it to start because they insisted on filling the car to its capacity of 40 riders before starting the one-minute journey!).

Still, there was something like a chip on Salzburg’s shoulder. I don’t quite know what it was, but there is an edge to the city, like it wants to be Vienna, perhaps, and knows it never can.

No matter: the food was good, the cathedral (with its five organs!) breathtakingly beautiful, and the company of choristers and friends has been delightful!

A very short post (because our bus awaits) to let you know we all arrived safely in Prague. We had no internet access in Salzburg, but many stories queued up and waiting to share with you.

Thanks for your encouraging comments!

Tuesday, April 14

A small contingent of GMC singers rendered “Hark I Hear the Harps Eternal” on stage at the Great Festival Hall.  Unfortunately, there were no occupants in the 2177 audience seats.  We stood in front of the shimmering golden “iron” safety curtain before going backstage to see the mechanisms for staging operas & plays.  Prior to our “performance” we toured two other theatres under the same roof–the Small Festival Hall which seats 1324 and the Felsenreitschule which dates back to 1606.  Built against the side of a mountain, this theatre has arched spectator galleries–what a setting for operas–excellent acoustics & a retractable roof. 

As the group discussed our transit from Vienna to Salzburg, we realized that we would be passing through Linz, less than five miles away from the village of Mauthausen and its Nazi-era concentration camp. About 40 of us requested the opportunity to deviate from the planned program and visit the camp. (I should add that those who chose to go on to Salzburg had either visited a camp previously, or had other good reasons not to go.)

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