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| Staatsoper |
We had tickets at the Staatsoper for Debussy's Pelléas and Mélisande. This opera, which a friend describes as "whatever happens?", was a production originally staged in 1991, in a modernist, blocky set with costumes that belonged more to the Pet Shop Boys than the opera. Grotesque hats and wigs, huge shouldered coats and a Modigliani inspired set. It's a long opera, over three hours, and while the music is lovely--after all Debussy was a master French impressionist--the dramatic flow is slow. Ben found the production mesmerizing. The singing was superb, though the orchestra, at times, tended to overpower the voices for us in our orchestra seats.
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| HKW |
We started the day with a trip to the Haus die Kulteren der Welt where we had earlier seen a huge poster for a Bauhaus Imaginista show. https://www.hkw.de/en/ This show, in four parts describes the interaction and spread of Bauhaus thought during the 20th century over the world from its beginnings in Germany to India, Africa, Japan and other countries, with a collection of letters, products, visuals and a fine group of movies. We enjoyed it very much, though the letters and small pieces are hard to read and are in mostly foreign languages.
Before the opera we had dinner a local Vietnamese restaurant on Unter den Linden near the Staatsopera. Very nice pho for Ben and a rice and grilled pork bowl for John. We started with a salad and spring rolls of shrimp and pork. The restaurant is called not surprisingly called the Vietnam Restaurant.
We also visited the memorial to the book burnings of 1933 before in the platz between the Opera House and the Law Faculty of Humboldt University, the empty library below ground is quite impressive, though as a French student nearby remarked, "très petite."
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