The Tonhalle



The Tonhalle is one of the most well known icons of our wonderful city. Sitting by the Oberkasseler Bridge on the banks of the Rhine, the round dome is familiar to nearly everyone, although not all know that this beautiful building is actually a concert hall.
When describing the locations of the museums people often look at me blankly, I mention the Tonhalle at the top of the Ehrenhof where the museums and concert hall are and nearly everyone nods.
Built in 1926 as one of the world’s first planetariums, and Germany's very first planetarium, it was remodeled into a concert hall in the 1978.
Since then the who’s who of the music world has played there - from The London Philharmonic Orchestra to Sting, from Jessye Norman to Nigel Kennedy, Dizzy Gillespie to The Buena Vista Social Club to Hilary Hahn.
The audience can enjoy being right up close to the stage and I learned just yesterday that the Tonhalle is one of just three totally circular concert halls in the world; Düsseldorf has a real gem here!
Musicians enjoy playing here as the atmosphere is intimate and most unique.
The Tonhalle is also home to the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra.

@Heinrichs

Following the recent piece in the Rheinische Post about RhineBuzz the Tonhalle contacted us and asked if we too could work together. I was delighted as I had wanted to bring them into the RhineBuzz programme for quite some time.
Not only will we be bringing you events and the occasional special from their very varied programme but I will also be giving the first tours in English of this incredible building!
I can’t wait to be interacting with you all again in such a way. The tours at the NRW-Forum introduced us to such a diverse audience, and so very many of you tell me how much you miss these, so I’m happily confident that the Tonhalle tours will fill a gap.
A date for the first is a little off yet, but this is a top priority for me, despite a mad Eurovision Song Contest influenced schedule right now (more of that to come soon!), I’ll let you all know when it will be as soon as I can. Promise!



So now we are thrilled to be bringing you our first event at the historic Tonhalle with a concert with American mezzo-soprano Susan Maclean, described by the music press as "phenomenal".
This evening will include pieces by Bach, Mahler and Bruckner.
The RhineBuzz community is invited to the Premiere celebrations in the beautiful Green Archway that is part of the Tonhalle, after the performance on 25th. There will meet Susan Maclean and have a chance to ask her any questions we might have
Opening special with the Tonhalle: discounted tickets in the stalls will cost just €28.00.
We also have a fabulous deal for au-pairs and students. Please email tonhalle@rhinebuzz.com for all payment details.
Deadline and payment for seats is February 18th.
We really look forward to seeing you there. This will be some evening!

GROSSE KUNST NRW


©Bernd Ahrens Photography


I had the privilege of taking a peek at the new museum kunst palast exhibition 'Important Art NRW' which opens on Saturday February 12 at 6pm.
This annual show is important to the citizens and artists of Düsseldorf alike as city and state artists are represented here and the work can be purchased. Most unusual for a museum exhibition.
The show also judged on two levels, an prize is granted for the best artist by his contemporaries, this year it will be presented to is judged by a panel of specialists in the visual arts, both artists and Horst Egon Kalinowski.
There is another prize given for best emerging talent; this is announced on the opening evening in a ceremony in the robert schumann hall.


It was refreshing to be hit by beautiful, fresh colours and a very 'happy' feel. I know Professor Kuhna will approve, the Grosse Kunst NRW prize winner from 2010. I met him last year in the Town Hall and was totally at one with him when he asked in his speech "why do artists have to hit us with their tragedy and sadness all the time ...?"
You will leave this exhibition with a smile on your face.


If you'd like to see the folks supporting the arts in the city go along to he opening on Saturday and for a view of what is happening in local studios do go along to the show which is on until March 6.

RhineBuzz Photography Workshop with Emil Zander

Jean Claude Bourgueil
©Emil Zander


Photography is an important part of RhineBuzz, many of our community are keen photographers, they enjoy the numerous exhibitions around the city enormously. 


I have often been asked if we can set up a workshop so voilá, here it is! And this is not just any workshop ...
I have managed to recruit the talents of Emil Zander, one of the city's best known photographers. Emil works for numerous agencies and publications and has photographed great personalities such as Peter Ustinov. The above portrait is of the great chef Jean Claude Bourgeil, awarded the much coveted Michelin star twice and owner of Düsseldorf's Zum Schiffchen restaurant in Kaiswerswerth.


The first RhineBuzz photography workshop in English will cover lighting, this most vital subject in photography. Places are limited to just four, so you will be guaranteed individual attention. 
Two places have already been booked.
This first class workshop will take place at Emil's studio on Oststrasse from 10am until 5pm, on Saturday March 26. Cost is €120.00.
Please email photo@rhinebuzz.com to reserve one of these places. 


There is currently an exhibition of Emil Zander's photographs at the Main Court in Düsseldorf running until April 29.
It is open to the general public from 7.30am until 3pm Monday and Tuesdays and until 2pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. 
Oberlandesgericht 
Cecillienalle 3
40474 Düsseldorf 

RhineBuzz in the Rheinische Post



A little while ago I had a call from Sonja Schmitz at the Rheinische Post.
"We've had you and RhineBuzz in the newspaper quite a bit recently - the Opera Scouts project, International Children's Jury at KiKiFe, etc, but what is RhineBuzz, who is Caroline West?
Can we do an interview?"
And so I called Marina Schuster at museum kunst palast and asked if we could do the interview there. She was of course delighted to agree!
There Sonja Schmitz and I spoke for a good hour. The piece has come out today and WoW! What can I say? The phone and email lines are very busy! Hits on the site are way up and all this is GREAT news for you the RhineBuzz community. We already have a wonderful new partner, another very prestigious house in Düsseldorf!
All this means we will be able to offer you an even more varied programme with great treats and specials.
Things are more than crazy currently, we are working on some great long term projects, and so my only dilemma is I just need to figure out where I will find the time to work on this all this wonderful stuff  ... but believe me, I will find the time, of course I will!
Thank you so very much Sonja Schmitz, it was a wonderful to meet you!

Wine Tasting with RhineBuzz

So many wines, so little time!
Or as some Americans may remember, “We will sell no wine, before it’s time.”
Did you know about VIF Weinhandel Düsseldorf right near the Zoo and Schillerplatz stops?
They regularly hold wine tastings from regions around the world; they are typically held on back-to-back weekend days e.g. Friday evenings and Saturday days.  Mr. Sistermanns, part owner, speaks English if you think you are too shy to try. Visit their site and get on their mailing list for the tastings. The emails are in German, but the dates and times should be clear and there is always an attachment listing the wines that will be on offer.
Their next big events include a “tour” of the Piedmont region, on Friday 18 February from 20:00-22:30 hrs for €22.00  
and on Saturday 26 March at 18:00h where vintners from five world-class wineries will present their lineups from South Africa, Italy and Germany for €15.00
That means, there should be some English in there somewhere. 
If you buy €75 or more of wine, the entrance fee is rebated.

Stay tuned for a great RhineBuzz “Wine with Music” event!

Thanks to Krista Terhune for contributing this piece

AIDS Benefit Gala Deutsche Oper am Rhein









Mein ist dein ganzes Herz
©Paul Esser
It's been a crazy few days for me at the Opera House recently.
Hänsel and Gretel, two performances of Platée and on Saturday night, the AIDS Benefit Gala.
This was my third gala at the Opera House and my, what an evening it was!
Absolutely stunning! The atmosphere was wonderful, all came dressed up in beautiful gowns and accessories, there was a really festive feeling in the air. The foyer and bar were full of politicians, economic movers and shakers from the city, representatives from the German AIDS Foundation and sponsors who were making this fantastic evening possible and so it was with great anticipation that we took our seats in the auditorium. A group of 20 RhineBuzzers joined me.
The Gala began with the regular welcoming speeches. Especially touching was Frau Piras, general manager of the jewellers Bucherer 1888, who were a main sponsor of the event and who supplied the gold AIDS ribbons that have been on sale on the Königsallee since last December. She emotionally said a few words about what it meant to her to be part of the evening, particularly her sentiment that "Düsseldorf is a city in which we can and do live very well in, but there are those less fortunate than ourselves here too and we can't just sit by and let someone else help. We have to be active ourselves" rang many bells for me. Frau Piras was close to tears as she handed over the cheque for €40.000 from her company, this was made up of sales from the AIDS ribbon and company donations.
As she took her seat next to us, we smiled and told her she done a great job. She was happy to hear this and relieved to be sitting down. The stage was quite obviously a little overwhelming for her. 
And so we were then treated to a spectacular programme. Caroline Hobbs, cello student at the Robert Schumann Music School and our young Opera Scout, will write more detail about the musical part of the evening, suffice it for me to say that the performances were fantastic! Tenor, Stefan Pop was my personal favourite of the evening. His voice just touched me in a way that was special beyond description. Incredible. Having just googled him I see he won a very prestigious opera prize, founded by Placido Domingo, for young musicians last year. I do hope we will be treated to more from this very young man, at some point here in Düsseldorf.
Annett Fritsch
©Paul Esser
The entire programme was beautiful, Annett Fritsch was stunning in a gorgeous golden gown, with the serene feel of a Greek goddess and the voice and presence of American soprano Takesha Meshé Kizart was just spellbinding. A keen favourite with the audience, who made her debut at The Met last year, she writes on her blog "instead of always looking for a miracle, you can BE a miracle." 
How very true.
Takesha Meshé Kizart
©Paul Esser
The finale, when all the soloists sang together the German piece ''Mein ist das ganzes Herz" was a moment you know you were privileged to be part of. The entire house gave the performers, the choir and the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra a much-deserved, extended, standing ovation.
At the press conference in December we were told that the programme would be spectacular and indeed the audience left the Opera House with a feeling that they had witnessed something very special and most worthy.
The RhineBuzzers hit a city cocktail bar after the Gala. All in a fine mood and singing the praises of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein.
Thank you to the Opera House for the seat allocation for RhineBuzz to this marvellous event that raised €140.000 for the German AIDS Foundation, in particular for the DREAM project, for last night alone. We were proud to be a part of it. With added donations this total will rise.
If you wish to help, you can donate here. Thank you.

Platée

©Hans Joerg Michel
Caroline Hobbs and I visited the Premier of Platée on January 28, 2011, at the Düsseldorf Opera House as Opera Scouts.
'Pure Eye Candy!' is how I described the production to the journalist with the Rheinische Post after the performance of this light-hearted and very colourful opera ballet by Rameau. I just loved it - the baroque music sweeps you along the story of the Greek gods beautifully and the set, my goodness, the set was breathtaking! Vibrant costumes, shrill props and a fantasy stage set. My idea of heaven ...
My full review will be found on the Opera House website soon.
There are just a 5 performances of Platée, ending February 12, so don't take too long to decide if you'd like to see this or not.
I'm going again, that's how much I enjoyed it! 
Caroline Hobbs is a cello student at the Robert Schumann School of Music, this is her review:
As the ‘Neue Düsseldorfer Hofmusik’ began the overture I knew I was in for a fantastic evening of music making.  Playing on period instruments under the baton of Konrad Junghänel, the ensemble performed with such vitality and purity of sound that can only be achieved by musicians of high calibre, well versed in the stylistic aspects of early music and who derive great pleasure from it’s performance.
Having just being coaxed in to sound world from a bygone era I was anticipating period costumes to compliment the baroque music and was hence quite taken aback when the curtains opened on to a depiction of the underbelly of modern day society. When this group of misfits was suddenly shooed off stage by a bustling group of smartly dressed businessmen and women seemingly celebrating the launch of ‘Jupiter’ a new alcohol product I started to wonder if I was in the right opera theater as I was expecting an opera based around Greek mythology.
After my initial shock at this juxtaposition of two seemingly contradictory worlds wore off I found myself quite enjoying the paradox, which for me, added even more spice to this whimsical opera and made it more readily accessible. Subsequently I found myself being drawn in to the drama unfolding onstage and despite already knowing the general plot I found myself on the edge of my seat eager to find out how a troupe of antiquated greek gods would manage to be assimilated in to this modern day setting (I even fell off my seat at one point while trying to keep an eye on Platée and Jupiter who ran off stage and in to the audience).
©Hans Joerg Michel

I found the set design and costumes very creative and original and there seemed to be dynamic vibrancy to the whole production, with impassioned and sassy dance routines adding extra zing to an already spirited evening.  For me, however, the show stealer was undoubtedly Anders J. Dahlin with his interpretation of the hapless character Platée, the central figure around whom the gods device their cunning plans.  Not only does Anders J. Dahlin have an amazingly agile and powerful voice but everything from his ever changing facial expression down to his pidgeon toed stance seemed to embody the luckless and wretched Platée.

Music from Platée at the Münster-Therme

©Hans Jörg Michel
On January 31 2011 The German Opera on the Rhine will be presenting a very special evevning of Baroque music from the Opera Platée in the historical art nouveau swimming baths Münster-Therme on Nordstrasse in Pempelfort.
Tickets are (€18 seats) and €14 (standing) inc. small culinary delights after the peformance.
Platée premieres at the Opera House Düsseldorf  on January 28, I'll be there as an Opera Scout, do watch out for the review, it runs until February 12.



Evita presented by Creative Arts





Have you always wished to be part of a stage production?
Well now you might well have a chance - Timo White of Creative Arts Group is looking for musicians for his forthcoming production of Evita to be performed on June 11 and 12 2011.
The website is in German but rehearsals are in English, stage director is none other than former dancer, Catherine Roth, who gave time for a special workshop for our volunteer project English Now! some time ago. Small, small world, English-speaking Düsseldorf.


Information in English can be found on the website here, then go to the (en) press releases on the left, or just contact Timo direct.
Rehearsals are just beginning so if this is something you would like to be part of, and over 70 actors, musicians front and backstage hands have signed up so far, do get in touch.
Don't just read this and think I'd like to do this but ...
Make contact with the group, you will have a great time, meet lots of new people and if you have never been in a stage production before you will be part of a team like no other. There will be drama and tension, you'll be exhausted; but at the end of the show the audience will be enchanted and you will have a very, very big smile on your face!
I know, I've taken part in productions in London and they have made up some of my most memorable moments ever. 
Timo White: Timo.White@cagev.com, he'd love to hear from you.

A Man of Letters

©Dreampark


It's English theatre time again on February 18 at 7pm when The English Speakers Circle present the theatre group Dreampark performing 'A Man of Letters,' a comedy about a northern English man, his career dreams for which he has no talent and fate which twists its way into his life as only fate does. 
''A Man of Letters' is written by Tim Firth who later went on to write 'Calender Girls,' the 7th most successful British Film of all time.

Tickets, €7.50, available from Susan Jones 0211 31 79 322.

Saal 1 
Weiterbildungszentrum, 
Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz, 
Düsseldorf

Hänsel and Gretel

©Frank Heller
Come and join us at the first RhineBuzz event of the year which takes us to the popular fantasy, fairy tale opera Hänsel and Gretel on January 26 at 7.30pm at the Düsseldorf Opera House  with the Deutsche Opera on the Rhine. A delightful performance written by Engelbert Humperdinck with an ensemble that includes the Stefani Kleeberg Girls Choir Düsseldorf.


There's an Opera Talk on this piece here
As always, we benefit from excellent seats in the stalls and second tier at greatly discounted prices and for this performance we have a very special offer for children.
Please email opera@rhinebuzz.com for details.

Klaus Mettig. Works 1976 - 2010 at museum kunst palast

Self Portrait © Klaus Mettig, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2010
China, September - October 1978 (Beijinng Yanan Xian Luoyang) 
© Klaus Mettig 
Photograph RhineBuzz

This show runs until January 23. The museum is open from 1 - 6pm on Christmas and Boxing Day.


The RhineBuzz community have been invited to the opening of Klaus Mettig. Works 1976 - 2010 this evening at the museum kunst palast at 7pm.
This is a monumental show, even the hardened journalists said 'wow' as they walked into the impressive exhibition halls at the press preview. We are treated to large format panoramas - his most recent work, wall installations of black and white photographs visualising a chronicle of our times, intriguing an enlightening, and huge slide projections also showing social and cultural documentation and important world happenings of over 40 decades.
His observations include milestones such as China shortly after the death of Mao; Moscow on the evening before Perestroijka; New York from Nixon to Obama.
Rare shots of Bhutan; South Korea at the beginning of the 1990's.
Klaus Mettig. Works 1976 - 2010 © Klaus Mettig 
Photograph RhineBuzz
Mettig lives in Düsseldorf.
An excellent catalogue accompanies the exhibition with text in both English and German.

Pierre Bonnard at the Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal



This gorgeous exhibition closes on January 30 - don't miss it!

The Von der Heydt-Museum in nearby Wuppertal is a beautiful, extraordinary museum.

Bonnard Colour Magician, the current exhibition, is a celebration of colour as few other. As you wander around the halls the use of all pigments and nuances abundantly painted by Pierre Bonnard (1867 - 1947) charm and delight in paintings from his early works influenced by his meeting with Toulouse - Lautrec to his later masterpieces created in the great Mediterranean light of Le Cannet on the Cote d'Azur.

Le débarcadére de Cannes 1928 - 1934 Pierre Bonnard
Not only are you treated to an extensive collection of paintings tracing the artist's entire working life but Dr Gerhard Finckh, curator of the show and director of the Van der Heydt-Museum has also produced a very informative and interesting film on Bonnard which you can also see at the exhibition. It is in German, but I had a friend with me at the press conference who doesn’t speak German and he definitely said that the pictures, both of the rich paintings and wonderful shots of Paris and other areas of France gave you an excellent impression of Bonnard's life.
This is a truly beautiful show, calm and gently cheering on cold winter days. It is accompanied by a gorgeous catalogue.
Take a trip to Wuppertal, it takes around 30 minutes on the train from Düsseldorf.

The museum is just a very short walk through the pedestrian zone from the main station.
Bonnard Colour Magician runs until 30 January 2011

Von der Heydt-Museum
Turmhof 8
42103 Wuppertal
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)