The city is a haven for all sorts of culture, with a staggering amount of museums, theaters, galleries and performance venues yielding a very vibrant arts scene. Founded in the 12th century and located on the Isar River just north of the picturesque Bavarian Alps, Munich is Germany’s third largest city, behind Berlin and Hamburg. With its cultural life, weather, picturesque squares and streets, central location, and economic prosperity, Munich ranks consistently in the top 10 cities worldwide in quality of life surveys.
At the center of the city is the Marienplatz, with the old and new town halls flanking the square. Many picturesque churches and cathedrals dot the cityscape, with plenty of open spaces and open air markets for Munich residents and visitors alike to take in the sights and sounds…and of course, the food. Bavarian fare is hearty and tasty and YO parents can be certain none of their children will come home any lighter...
Traditional Bavarian Weisswurst...only eaten before noon!
For those a little hungrier, a half meter long Bratwurst.
Now thats what I call a pretzel.
Sauerbraten (think Teutonic Sweet & Sour Pork)
Always leave room for dessert: with strawberries in season, Erdbeerkuchen mit Schlag.
The Youth Orchestra has been enjoying Bavarian quality of life for several days already, but has saved the Munich concert as its last in Germany, before heading to Prague to close the 2008 European Tour.
The Munich performance takes place in the Munich Philharmonie located in the Gasteig Cultural Center. Inspired by the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the Barbican in London, the Gasteig houses not only the 2400 seat Philharmonie but a variety of smaller halls, performance and theater spaces, galleries and libraries. More than 1700 events take place at the Gasteig each year.
The hall is quite large, similar to the Berliner Philharmonie, with wood on all sides, floors and ceilings resulting in very live acoustics.
The YO rehearses, welcoming back violinist Julian Rachlin, who performs the Bruch Violin Concert.
It's concert time and the ensemble has really hit its stride now, with successive concerts giving the musicians a great feel for the works on the program. Many YO members feel this was one of their best performances ever.
And the critics agree. A review in the prestigious German Daily paper Süddeutsche Zeitung summed it up this way:
How long and intense the rehearsals must have been for Bela Bartok’s Dance Suite to sound full of such precision and so musically rich, so warm in the strings, so round in the brass yet always razor sharp.
Rarely do the Scenes from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet contain so much color, drama, expression but yet also tenderness and romance as with the performance by the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra.
What was heard at the Philharmonie under the direction of Benjamin Shwartz, sounded so phenomenally good, that one must even rank this ensemble among even the top professional orchestras.
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