performance

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During the Streets of Paris workshop in September, an assignment was to shoot on the Pont des Arts. There were a number of musicians playing on the bridge, but the lone saxophone player caught my ear.

I stopped to listen to his music for a long time, struck by the fact that he seemed to be playing for himself, not the people around him.

Stephen plays the Saxophone on the Pont des Arts in Paris.

It finally dawned on me that I was supposed to be taking pictures, not listen to music (bad student!), so I did. 😉

Afterwards, I talked to Stephen, the musician, who turns out to be a really nice guy. He’s originally from Pittsburgh, PA and went to live and work in Paris. After a while, he could not stand his “normal” job anymore, so he is now a full-time musician. Wow, talk about living your dream!

At the time, he was practicing, which he prefers to do outside and in public, rather than in a stuffy rehearsal room. That I can relate to!

As the sun dropped from the sky, the sky turned into a spectacular background and I could not pass the opportunity by. I did miss dinner at a fantastic restaurant waiting for the colors to be just right, but I think the picture justifies the loss – barely. 🙂

Stephen plays the Saxophone in front of the sunset on the Pont des Arts in Paris.

Next time you are in Paris, check out Stephens schedule and listen to him play! And if you’re in Munich, Stephen, let me know.

The Performance of Elijah (by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy) in the Luitpoldhalle in Freising (Germany) was a delight for eyes and ears. After each piece I see now way to improve on a great performance and then the creative team blows me away with yet another superlative.

The stage was placed in front of the orchestra and only about 30 centimeters high. That way the audience almost sat on the stage. Smack in the middle instead of just along for the ride …

The orchestra was visible behind (and above) the stage through a translucent curtain. In this picture, taken during the preparations for the performance, you can get a good impression of the setup.

The stage for Elijah, as seen by the audience.

The orchestra, on the other hand, had a special view of the acting, which I found fascinating:

View from the orchestra on to the stage.

I huddled down in the middle, right in front of the stage – a perfect place for photography. What I did not expect was the auditory and emotional force of an Elijah belting out a solo at a distance of half a pace. That was an emotional roller coaster ride that I have never experienced before. It gave me a whole new, personal relationship with the oratorio.

The narrator before the second act.

All pictures are here for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Yesterday afternoon was the premiere performance of Elijah (by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy) in the Luitpoldhalle, in Freising (Germany).

The stage setting is fantastic and the performers blew me away. The impression was underlined by the fact the audience almost sits on stage.

Dancing ballerinas in white tulle glide on stage as angels.

Angels on Approach

 

Elijah stands above the priests of Baal and proclaims the death sentence.

Elijah sentences the priests of Ball to death

 

A boy looks into the distance and spies the first wisps of rain clouds while the people are desperate.

The Boy Sees a Rain Cloud

I’m really looking forward to experiencing the performance again today!

Fireshow

Sanja Vatra asked me to take some pictures of her fire show during the Uferlos Festival last week. I was more than happy to oblige.

The weather was horrible, it was raining cats and dogs. Despite this, a nice crowd gathered to see a great show.

Sanja Vatra Poi Fireshow

In order to get the fire swirling and some of the background, I dragged the shutter at 1/3s. The auto-focus of the Canon 5D decidedly did not feel up to the task, so I used f/8 for a good depth-of field and focused manually. These choices left me to use ISO 400 in order to expose the fire right.

I then fired the flash on ETTL with -1EV compensation to Sanja properly. Judging by the recycle time, the flash was firing full pop.

Looking at the pictures on the camera LCD after the show, I thought the whole effort was wasted. After I got home, warm, and dry, I had another look on the computer and felt much better. 🙂

Have a look at my Flickr! photostream for some more pictures.

Last weekend I had a really fun assignment shooting a rehearsal of the musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. It will be performed May 13th and 14th in Freising by a cast of almost 300 people.

What I saw was breathtaking – a stunning performance. Even though the performers are all laymen and -women, the choreographer, director, voice coaches, etc. are all pros working pro bono – and it shows.

Here are some impressions, you can find more on my Flickr! page in the Joseph set.

Grim Brothers

Grim looking brothers - not all of which are male.

Angry brothers shout at the Narrator

Brothers crowding around and shouting their anger at the narrator.

Josephs brothers and the narrator practice dance moves.

Narrator and brothers practicing dance moves.

Colorful children.

Children practicing their color swirl dance.

In case you have been looking carefully and feel confused: there are two different narrators to cover all four performances. 🙂