singer for all seasons: Strauss celebration at the Festspielhaus: Violetta Urmana/Jonathan Nott,7-VI-2014

At the Festspielhaus on the 7th for the Wagner, Strauss, Mahler concert, I felt a little bit more familiar with the premises.
I walked all day the wonderful allees, first from my Guesthouse through Berlioz Platz along the Oos.
As it was very warm, almost like a heatwave, I chose to follow the water and the shady trees.
Kaiser allee led me to Lichentaller Allee.
I called into the elegant Trinkhalle to get some useful maps and enquire about the local buses. I was welcomed nicely by an English speaking young assistant. Although I had some google maps I was glad to get proper leaflets! ( I did not buy a guide because I had all the useful links on my Ipad which now travels with me... ). On my way I visited the Rose garden and at the end of my walk in shady surroundings, the Dahlia garden.
Then I hopped on bus 201 back to the center to walk up the old part of the village and visit the spa

grounds including the visit of the Roman Bath, part of a car-park, and also in a cool atmosphere as the temperature at 3pm was quite high ( I read when I came back that it was more than 30°...).

I had a better idea of the town after I could see the old streets up the vale, having walked down the water part of the day. I also live in a Roman settlement because of spring water.. Aix was also a good spot for the Roman soldiers because of the hot springs .. Baden has the same origins, a relaxing and curing place for soldiers, the Roman garnisons because of the hot springs. stopped and named it 'Aquae Sextius'... plus now the similarity with music festivals !
Soon I will be visiting another Roman site in Italy where I intend to see the Roman baths too, in Herculaneum, another insight, more reading to make...more routes to find..more sites to enjoy visiting!
By 6pm I was getting ready for the concert and walked again to the Festspielhaus from my lodgings, less than a km away.

The concert was a must. I did not bother with the programme in German as I do not understand a word, but I had the programme all in French and German for the poems done by Cité de la Musique in Paris, because the Bamberg orchestra, the conductor Jonathan Nott and the Soprano Violeta Urmana are on tour with this same programme. I have learnt a lot reading it and will still read it as it is a mean of understanding what I enjoyed listening to.
Watching the musicians during Wagner Lohengrin Prelude and Malher 'Titan' was such a delight. This orchestra has a very special mellow sound, which I believe is due to the wonderful cellos and double bass. I coud not help watching a lot, especially during the Mahler performance.
Jonathan Nott Conductor
Violetta Urmana Soprano
Bamberg Symphony Orchestra

Richard Wagner
Prelude to the opera “Lohengrin”

Richard Strauss
“Verführung” op. 33/1
“An die Nacht” op. 68/1
“Frühlingsfeier” op. 56/5
Vier Lieder op. 27
   1. Ruhe, meine Seele!
   3. Heimliche Aufforderung
   4. Morgen!
   2. Cäcilie

Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 1

I had never seen Violeta Urmana on stage. She belongs to my favourite type of singers: the ones who sing with their heart and laucnh in the music with hardly any glimpse at the audience until they finish... and her voice is so intense too. The fascination of her voice and intonation took me away , and not knowing the text completely, I let myself drift along the musical phrases, following the sea pulse of this Strauss music, and could feel all the emotion she poured in her singing. I was aware too of the presence of the musicians and the conductor constant care for the singer. What a wonderful match!I had heard of this Bamberg orchestra and his conductor but felt there how privilege I was to actually be in this praised musical event. Proably my inculture did leave me on an outer circle but I did enjoy this musical experience immensely even so!The poems I know now are Morgen and Cäcilie. I had some trouble with the first poem to adapt to the music and singing and felt it was perhaps the same with the soprano's voice, she had to launch herself in this amazing Strauss planet.
She must have been exhausted by the end of the concert and I felt she gave a lot, as well as the orchestra ( there are fine solo parts now and again to enjoy). She gave an encore which I do not know. I will discover it one day!
I left the following morning with my bag to go up Merkur Berg and feel the forest!(Black forest ! which I did not taste even got the sight of ...)

By the end of the afternoon, after a nightmarish afternoon at the train station where the direct train to Marseille was announced 'cancelled' I finally boarded a TGV in Strasbourg and arrived in Aix much later than scheduled... 11 pm instead of 9.30 pm.