The city of chocolate, mussels, frites, beer made by monks, The European Union, the Grand Place, Flemish and French welcomed the Pittsburgh Symphony with an enthusiastic standing ovation on Thursday evening November 7. I spoke with  Ulrich Hauschild, the Director of Music who explained where the name of the Centre, Bozar originated. It has to […]

The final tour  week was a blitz beginning Sunday in Munich where Manfred Honeck helped me with a lunch menu choice. Munich plans on building a new concert hall in the next few years which has been controversial with regard to the cost as in Hamburg and Paris. The combination of restaurants, cafes, bars, interesting […]

Berlin claims the title Capital of Spies with a German Spy Museum on Leipziger Platz but surely Vienna is the capital with an estimated 7,000 spies owing to its place on the map near East and West historically and more liberal laws regarding spying. Not long ago Rudolf Giuliani was attempting to pull off political […]

Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony have completed their diplomatic mission with triumphant success. The two concerts on Thursday and Friday night in the home of the Vienna Philharmonic, the Musikverein were sold out with standing room at the back  full. We see this famous concert hall every New Year’s  Day on WQED13. Christian Thielemann […]

The German ICE fast train delivered the Pittsburgh Symphony to Berlin about 1:15 Tuesday afternoon with a smooth ride on a crisp fall day from Hannover. The conversation on the ride ranged from the delights off the recent Iphone Pro, a strong recommendation for the HBO series on Chernobyl and a fascinatting story of a […]

Sunday evening of the Pittsburgh Symphony Tour was the first anniversary of the attack on the three congregations meeting at the Tree of life Building in Squirrel Hill on October 27 2018. It  was a travel day for the Pittsburgh Symphony leaving Hamburg and heading to Hanover.  Music Director Manfred Honeck headed to Berlin with […]

After a great opening concert at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt with Igor Levit playing Rachmaninoff’s Paganini Rhapsody and a jazzy encore of Danny Boy the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck roared on with Shostakovitch Symphony No 5 and the “French Blue Danube” as Manfred Honeck introduced the first encore to the audience, Satie’s Gymnopedie […]

Where did the hot dog begin? It might be in this German city. The spices are a little different and the ingredients, the ratio of pork to beef. Vegetarians should not think about it too much. The Pittsburgh Symphony tour party explored the city in advance of their first concert on Friday night at the […]

The bougainvillea waited till the very last few weeks of the season to sprout   glorious red blooms on the front porch. They like it hot and dry I am bringing them  inside once again to see if the plant will last the winter as the Pittsburgh Symphony takes off for Frankfurt Germany and the first […]