Sigma Alpha Iota

22 Summer 2023 • sai-national.org 22 Summer 2023 • sai-national.org By Jayne I. Hanlin In 2012 my river cruise ended in Hamburg, the German port from where my ancestors emigrated to the United States in 1900. When our tour bus drove past the location of the projected concert hall, which already looked imposing, I decided one day I would attend a performance there. On this visit to the city, I explored the Brahms Museum. ("Visiting with Brahms in Hamburg" PAN PIPES Winter 2014) Six years later, I had the opportunity to fulfill my desire. The flight to Hamburg arrived late on a foggy afternoon, resulting in a long taxi ride to the hotel. I had arranged to meet Philipp Cavert, a public radio classical music host on Northern German Culture Radio (NDR), at 5 PM in the lobby. Besides being a freelance journalist, Philipp is a board member of the Johannes Brahms Society. In our 2014 email correspondence, he had arranged my visit to the Brahms Museum in Baden-Baden, Germany. ("Brahms in Baden-Baden" PAN PIPES Winter 2019). However, we had never met face-to-face previously. Instead of having tea as planned, he invited me on a backstage tour of Elbphilharmonie (Elphi). Wow! It was an unexpected and thrilling offer — especially since booking any tour of Elphi during my stay was impossible. Philipp pointed out the glass-enclosed studio from which he broadcasts. High on the wall was a monitor displaying the current image of the stage area. On a smaller monitor in a hallway was the 17:00 to 23:00 schedule that listed times and spaces of construction and dismantling for the evening's performance by the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg under the baton of Music Director Kent Nagano. Philipp shepherded me as we walked past guests attending a special pre-concert reception, labeled dressing rooms, walls with hanging racks for violins and French horns, shelves for other instruments, and storage areas with large instrument cases that still had many traveling stickers affixed. Of course, the highlight was the final destination — inside the auditorium itself. Our photo together on the podium — even without any musicians onstage — is a special memory of this unexpected private tour. Afterwards, we walked to the Westin Hotel (where I was staying in the complex) for a light supper. It was interesting to hear Philipp talk about his profession as well as about the Johannes Brahms Society's plans for the 1859 square piano on which the composer had given lessons from 1861-1862. After restoration, visiting pianists will perform A Wld of Music A Visit to Elphi The Elbphilharmonie The Elbphilharmonie concert hall in the concert hall in the HafenCity quarter of HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany. Hamburg, Germany.

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