June 5, 2014

Würzburg, Germany

Hello from Würzburg! Been a very nice day of train travel from Basel. Train journeys are particularly useful for catching up or getting ahead on to-do lists as well as learning music. Looking forward to performing some wonderful old King's Singers pieces in Dresden. They're from an era and an ensemble that has been particularly inspirational to this group. The era is the late 20s and early 30s and the group, as you may have guessed by now, is none other than The Comedian Harmonists. The five singers and pianist were a wonderful sextet and The King's Singers 1985 A Tribute to the Comedian Harmonists album is a fantastic homage from us to them. I've performed The Barber of Seville Overture and Gitarren spielt auf (in Italian), sung and recorded Mein kleiner grüner Kaktus, but I'm really looking forward to singing Tea for Two, Creole Love Call and Wochenend und Sonnenschein. Have a listen to some old recordings on YouTube of The Comedian Harmonists. The sound is charming and a lovely snapshot of the time. I think of Cole Porter, Ella and Louis, and all those other composers and musicians when I listen to this era of music. I can hear my girlfriend Liz saying to me that she was born too late - roaring Twenties for her!

Right, off to rehearsal now.

Tschüss!