First Project & Max Raabe--LIVE!

I'll start off by saying thank you to anyone and everyone who thought of or prayed for my first presentation, my first project, my first Referat, in German class. It is with great joy that I announce, it went extremely well and ten times better than I had expected it to go. I rehearsed multiple, multiple times on Thursday night, and after presenting to Matthew once, I felt that I could do it. Suddenly, the impossible became possible. But, I was still really nervous. So after our first class session yesterday (Friday) morning, I ran as fast as I could to the kiosk down the street from the classroom building to order Schnitzel im Brötchen mit Senf ("a thin cutlet of veal, usually seasoned, that is dipped in batter and fried" in a roll with mustard) from the very kind, friendly, and helpful Herr (Mr.) Günter. I also grabbed a coffee, which Günter's sweet wife diligently prepared for me, and then ran back to the classroom building to do some last-minute prepping for my presentation on Alexanderplatz and the TV Tower, two of my favorite spots so far in Berlin. When the time came to resume class, I was the only one who volunteered to open the presentations, so I, luckily and willingly, did. I had to write some new words up on the white board for everyone to learn, and during my presentation I had to then define the words in German. In all I spoke for between ten and fifteen minutes, though I was worried it was too short (and it may still turn out to have been...). I used the below picture to aid my presentation, asked my classmates some questions, and just described the history of the square and why I chose to do this particular topic. As it turns out, at the end of the day when I was leaving, my teacher pulled me aside and was very complimentary about my presentation and about how I had done this first week. I was thrilled, and that gave me the mental freedom, I think, to really just enjoy my time going to see Max Raabe.

From left to right: The TV Tower, the S- and U-Bahn station, and the World Clock in Alexanderplatz, formerly part of East Berlin.

And so now...Max. Raabe.

Who are Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester? I would argue that they are the most outstanding, creative group of musicians around today. They revive music from 1920s and 1930s Germany, with some American, French, and Spanish songs thrown into the mix every now and again. Matthew and I first were exposed to Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester's music by our first German teacher first semester this year, Frau Reed. She played the following song for our class, many times, but after the first ten seconds even, I was hooked; it's my favorite kind of music, in another language, made by truly classy musicians, who are also truly classy performers. Some of Max's songs are on my page, actually. If you look to the bottom, you'll see the music player, and within that, there are four songs by Max. Please take a listen to the following song, in the video below. Even if you've already heard it on my page, this video is exactly what it was like to be at his concert last night (except for that we were indoors at the Georg Händel Hall, thankfully--sheltered from the cold and in a venue with professional acoustics). Max was absolutely dashing, and the orchestra was top-notch; all was true to form, just like in the pictures and videos and recordings that I've been entertaining myself with for months. To see the real thing was unbelievable, and today I still feel like it was all just a dream.

"Mein kleiner grüner Kaktus," or, "My Little Green Cactus"

Back-tracking a little bit... In order to get to Max, Matthew and I left class at the end of the day, took the bus like usual, and then transferred to the S-Bahn system in order to catch our big, fast, ICE train (below) for Halle on the Saale River, which is in the state of Sachsen-Anhalt. Berlin is its own state within the state of Brandenburg, and Halle/Saale is about an hour-and-a-half to the southwest.

 Our train.

When we got in to Halle, we had the pleasure of taking a taxi. Not just your typical taxi, but a German taxi. And as I've written before, at least in this part of Germany, taxis come in one model: cream-colored Mercedes-Benz sedans... :) We had a skilled and speedy driver who safely deposited us on the doorstep of the youth hostel, Jugendherberge Halle, where we would spend the night.

This was also no typical hostel. Though it was my first, I've heard stories, and this one was just beautiful. It's an old, historic house, renovated and put to good use. And everything was so clean and bright, too; it was just amazing!

It worked out that no one else checked after us yesterday evening, so Matthew and I were in a six-person room, while all the youngsters--and some of the kids there were really young! It was refreshing to be in a "hotel for young people" :D --apparently had filled the rooms upstairs. Late at night we heard them seemingly playing tag. It was funny!

The view from our room in the youth hostel.

And now, back to Max...

WE WERE IN THE EIGHTH--yes, that's right--8TH ROW! Right off the bat, as soon as I saw how close we were, I almost cried, but I was able to contain myself until the opening song, "Ich bin nur wegen dir hier," "I'm only here because of you," when Max's magic, combined with the fulfillment of many dreams--of being in Germany, of seeing the Palast Orchester in concert...of being just eight rows away from perfection--overwhelmed me.

Unfortunately, no pictures or video were allowed during the concert, and I didn't want to risk getting thrown out of such a classy joint, so I only have these few pictures (below) from before the concert. But trust me when I say that Max and his orchestra are truly perfection. Wow... ::swoon, swoon, faint, faint::

Views from our seats.

A Max pose before the concert.

When the concert started, as I said, they opened with "Ich bin nur wegen dir hier," followed by a song that's here on my blog, called, "Küssen kann man nicht alleine," or, "One cannot kiss alone"--this is also the name of Max's current tour. :) Other songs that I recognized were, "Dort tanzt Lu-lu," (in the music player here on my blog, as well), "Irgendwo auf der Welt" ("Somewhere in the World"), the latter of which is on my blog as well, but by the Comedian Harmonists, which is the group from the early 20th century that greatly inspired Max Raabe and the Palast Orchestra; many of their songs are remakes of the Comedian Harmonists' songs.

I can't even go into detail about the concert, but it really was an unbelievable, unforgettable experience. I have too many images in my head to possibly write down, but...I will forever treasure this opportunity to visit Halle on the Saale, to "meet" Max and his orchestra, to be deeply and wholesomely entertained, and to do all this with my pal Matthäus. :)

Off to Mass now at St. Hedwig's Cathedral.

Gruß

-Monika