The Basingstoke Ladies Choir

LADIES' CHOIR TRIP TO WEIMAR 5th - 9th April 2006

 

Basingstoke Ladies' Choir have again been "flying the flag" for Basingstoke in Europe. The choir has recently returned from a ground-breaking short tour in eastern Germany centred on the city and environs of Weimar.

Visits were undertaken to the mediaeval city of Erfurt, the capital city of Thuringia; to Eisenach, where the choir attended a lecture-recital in the home of J S Bach; to Wartburg Castle - the impressive world heritage site overlooking Eisenach - and to Weimar, justifiably selected as European City of Culture in 1999.

Weimar was home to Goethe, Schiller, Liszt, Bach, Neitzsche, Hummel, Berlioz, Schopenhauer, Strauss, Wagner, Klee, Schweitzer, Cranach and so many other artists, musicians, philosophers and poets. It also boasts the world-famous Bauhaus arts centre and university and the Liszt Music School.

The Ladies' Choir performed two major concerts under the direction of Margaret Brackenborough with Neil Streeter accompanying. The first took place in the beautiful Lutheran Church in Bad Berka as guests of the Bad Berka men's chorus. A delightfully varied programme included Ann Connolly's lovely singing of Franck's "Panis Angelicus".

The other concert was given to a packed audience in the Coudraysaal - the elegant concert room of the Weimar School of Music - as guests of Männerchor Taubach.

The reception of the choir's performance was a triumph. The host male-voice choirs had wondered what to expect from a "frauenchor" - a ladies' choir. In the event they were hugely impressed.

Fritz Wuestemann, speaking for the Taubach choir, said he and his fellow singers were totally overwhelmed by the quality and variety of the Basingstoke Ladies' Choir performance. "You have quite broken our hearts with the beauty of your singing," he said.

The choir also gave short recitals in the Great Hall at Wartburg Castle, in the public square in Weimar under the statues of Goethe and Schiller and in the Elisabethenruhe hospice - originally founded in the thirteenth century by St Elisabeth of Hungary, widow of Herman, Landgrave of Thuringia and Hesse. It is now an old people's home under the care of Caritas.

Basingstoke Ladies' Choir have already strongly promoted Basingstoke in Euskirchen, our twin town; now they have established new supporters of our borough on the eastern side of Germany. It is hoped that the Taubach Men's Choir may visit the Borough some time in 2007. Whatever happens BLC have won a very strong place in the affections of their Weimar friends.

from an original article in the Basingstoke Gazette.


Photos of the Choir's trip to Germany April 2006

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