Varieties of Musical Experience

We've been delighted to experience the formal settings of music - last night in the form of a musical theater show Tanz der Vampire at the Theater des Westens and tonight in the form of an opera Orpheus at the Komische Oper - as well as the informal settings of music - whether a violinist trio in a subway station or a trumpeter, violinist or an accordion player on the street.  It was agreed that our musical experience last night, though sung and spoken entirely in German, was hugely impacting and satisfying, given its rich set design, amazing light work and incredible sound engineering. The ability to look at the structure of a work when not overly focused on the language of the piece allowed for a new kind of spectator perception.

From music to street art, Berlin is awash in spontaneous expressions of creativity. Take this massive work that is across the street from our hotel: