My First Week In Berlin

I arrived in Germany on Sunday evening last week and since then I have had such a fabulous time.

Monday to Saturday my day was scheduled to begin at 10 am finishing at late evening. We work on the staging of Carmen, singing lessons, movement, and coaching. The whole experience has been so wonderful, but also very tiring, so I was relieved to have the day off today.

The-Rehearsals

A traditional day at the Berlin Opera Academy begins with a movement class for an hour with Andrea Danae Kingston, who is an energetic character to ignite our energies in the mornings. At 11:00 we then move on to production rehearsal, which involves staging scenes from Carmen with Gidon Saks. His direction is feisty and full of drama. It is great to work with him as an artist as every musical phrase has a new energy and thought to provoke the flow of the storytelling. Peter Leonard, our conductor, also leads these sessions to encourage us to keep the integrity of the written music and to ensure that the music reflects the drama. The whole cast and production team are wonderful to work with, and everybody is compassionate and encouraging towards one another.

It has been an adventure living and working in Berlin as I have had to get used to the public transport system here which is very well organised and enables you to get from
A to B very efficiently. If anyone is visiting, I greatly recommend using the app BVG fahrinfo to help you get around. It has made my life much easier, especially since my average travel time from home to each of the rehearsal spaces is 45 minutes including multiple changes. I hope it has prepared me for tube life in London. Learning lessons everywhere in everyday situations!

 

Gala-Concert-Location
Mendelssohn-Remise

 

On Saturday after a day of rehearsals we all got the opportunity to get our glad rags on and take to the stage and perform in the Opera Gala. We performed in a beautiful museum setting in the Mendelssohn-Remise, which was a very poetic setting for songs about love and loss. We all had a wonderful time, and I am excited about the lieder concert next Saturday.

Gala-Concert-In-Berlin

 

Gala-Concert-Pic-06
Xenia Cumento, Caitlin Redding, Me, Julie Cowger, Beeth Mirahver and kneeling down Ivory Logins.

 

Gala-Concert-Pic-03
My Carmen Girls, Victoria Graves (Mercedes), Rebeca Fjallsby (Carmen) and Me (Frasquita)

 

 

 

 

Gala-Concert-Pic-05
Pauline Pelosi and Me

 

Gala-Concert-Pic-04

I can’t wait to get back into it tomorrow!

On my day off today, I was able to explore a little more of Berlin, and I came across an eccentric flea market, Berliner Trödelmarkt which stretches out across large boulevards near the Tiergarten in Charlottenburg. The products on sale ranged from fashion, stamps and collectibles, gifts, art, furniture, food, and ornaments. It was so wonderful to see each store holders personality in the collections of items that they sold or created by hand.

Berlin-05

Berlin-04

Berlin-03

Later in the afternoon I then had a singing lesson and then chilled out at the flat with my beautiful flatmates and friends from the course.

83 thoughts on “My First Week In Berlin”

    1. Doing all of this travelling totally on my own has been a real adventure but I’ve loved the challenge of getting to different places on time and something different each day.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  3. Fabulous, thanks for share Charlotte. Very nice experience to prepare his arrival in London! Very proud of you ! whish you all the best ! Best thoughts to accompagny you !

    Reply

    1. I don’t think singers and performers ever stop learning, there is always something new to observe and improve, change and invest time in which suits me.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. I’m loving exploring around, all of the shops are shut on a Sunday and with working the other six days I had planned on getting my food in for the week and having a browse around the main shopping centres. I quite like having my plans changed it forces me to think out of the box.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  11. I do so very much envy you. Trouble is, you’ll find London’s Underground something of a let-down after any time spent using a German public transport system…

    Reply

    1. The German system is very efficient, I’ve nearly got lost a couple of times but that’s to be expected with my first time in the City. Fingers crossed with transport in London…

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  13. Such a wonderful post! I’m pleased you are enjoying the life in Berlin – you have had so many new things to get used to quickly! A new city, new home, new flat-mates, new language as well as everything at the Berlin Opera Academy! Well done!

    Reply

  14. This looks and sounds absolutely wonderful, so hope you enjoy the rest. Transport in London is not that difficult. Best wishes and blessings, Charles.

    Reply

    1. My brother settled into London quite well, it seems travelling around South of the river is more of a problem but I don’t know enough about it yet, the internet sites that give you guidance on the routes seems quite efficient from what I’ve experienced so far.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

      1. I’m sure you will settle into it all quite quickly. Often it looks like two places are far away, but aren’t. So I found I could walk through the parks from the Royal Albert Hall to Oxford street in about 20minutes, and it was such a wonderful walk I did it rather than catching the bus or the underground. One has in any case to walk all the way down to South Kensington to catch the underground, and by the time you get to your destination, it has taken about the same time! Experiment; enjoy the experience, and enjoy Berlin before that, best wishes and blessings, Charles.

  15. So nice. Thank you for the information about the app. that helps you get around in Berlin. I am a 100% certain you will not have any problem in London.

    Reply

  16. Fabulous experiences – these are the best days of your life – enjoy to the fullest! Learn everything you can, but have fun time, too…I am happy for you.

    Reply

  17. Berlin is very beautiful Charlotte and those are wonderful pictures. Good that all of you are having a wonderful time. May the Lord continue to bless you richly is my prayer.

    Reply

    1. Thanks Steve, it is the first time I’ve learnt the Carmen score or done any of the scenes, I like the style and the dancing and the great group of people I’m with. So much goes into it I’m so happy to be involved.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. I’m glad I’m working on one of your favourites, I love the role and the music. It was great in Glasgow because the Opera theatre was right nearby I got to see lots of opera and at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland their student productions were always brilliant as they had an opera school within the same building.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

    1. I had a bit of a lie in, although that would still be considered early for people like my little brother. It was such a beautiful day to do some local sight-seeing.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  27. Wonderful to see you enjoying Berlin so much. It’s probably 30 years since I was there. Pre wall fall down for sure! Love Carmen too 😊

    Reply

    1. I’m hoping to go to see the remnants of the wall and other sites towards the end of the project, my parents are coming over to see the show so hopefully we can fit a list of things I’d like to do in.

      Best wishes
      Charlotte

      Reply

  32. Praying for God to keep you safe on your lovely adventures. Should you run into trouble, remember to call on Jesus! He loves to rescue His people. : )

    Your singing is amazing. Keep up the good work.

    Best Regards,

    “Gwennon”

    Reply

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