The fantastic Hamburg Elbphilharmonie is a newly minted symphony hall by Herzog and DeMeuron, one of our favorite starchitects. Costing nearly a Billion dollars (nur ein Milliarde auf Deutsch, to make it sound like less in classic German humble pie) and three times the original cost, it better klingt gut! It may seem unconscionable at that price, but…at least I wasn’t the project manager for that one!?! Whew!!

Nevertheless, I’m sure that it will take your breath away if you see it live. Perched high on a six-level parking podium, this building guards the Hamburg harbor.  Looking like a gigantic, dry-docked cruise ship, the interior is equally impressive.  Notice the scale of the building next to adjacent existing low rise buildings along the harbor. This building will change the face and pace of future symphony halls. More and younger crowds will attend to be seen and heard in these exciting venues that must include creative new productions and innovative performers in order to survive.

You can read all about it here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbphilharmonie#

Five German Speaking Cities Ranked Top in Quality of Living Survey

A recent survey tracked the most liveable cities in the world. Of eleven top cities, five are German speaking (Munich, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf are in Germany; Zurich is in Switzerland; and Vienna is in Austria). San Francisco was the only American city ranked in the top ten aside from NYC. Berlin was #11.

The cities — 230 in total — were evaluated on 39 factors including political, economic, environmental, personal safety, health, education, transportation and other public service factors. Cities were compared to New York City which was given a base score of 100. Mercer, who conducted the survey, is one of the largest human resources companies in the world based out of New York City.

Here’s the (updated) link: https://www.mercer.com/newsroom/2017-quality-of-living-survey.html

This survey may explain why I devote so much time and effort in learning German and spending a good proportion of my travels in Germany. The clues are based on the key factors cited above. They are the same reasons why I live and breathe in San Francisco. Now you know where I’d be if I hadn’t left my heart here.

Pretty Yende Pretty Amazing

April 30 will be a big day for me, when I see Pretty Yende in Dusseldorf. She has a pretty strange and curious name, but once you see her perform, you will completely understand why she us called that.

Out of (South) Africa, Pretty started learning and doing opera from Age 13. Apparently enough time on the clock to soar to one of the Met Opera’s youngest divas–performing in the Barber of Seville, Romeo and Juliette, and pinch hitting a few years earlier in Comte Ory. She’s gorgeous, powerful, energetic, and a heavenly sensation.

She’s planning to learn Wagner next, so get ready for some more fireworks. Don’t walk but run* to the nearest operahouse where she is performing. She’s slated to sing Lucia de Lamermoor and Elixir of Love next season, and I am already getting in line for tickets at the Met!

Watch the trailer for her new album here:

Incidentally, if you are a new opera lover like me, check out http://www.operabase.org for a database of all performances, opera companies, and performers throughout the world. For instance, if you search for Pretty Yende under Artists, you will see all her past, current,  and future performances. It’s an awesome site that I use regularly for trip and personal event planning.

A friend spotted Rufus Wainwright at the Zuni Cafe at lunchtime yesterday! There’s still time to catch his performance at the Uptown in Napa tonight.

My next post will be the start of Year 4 for Travels with Myself and Others ….so fasten your seat belts…

*Strange visual as some people attending the opera require canes to get around, but that’s changing!

Wishing a happy birthday this month to sister Muriel!