The skyline of Hamburg has been changing gradually over the last decade with the construction of the Elbphilharmonie positioned between the docks and city centre. I was last here in 2015 to see the final performances by the fabulous Simone Young as Artistic Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Music Director of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra. The talk of the town was the impending opening of the new performance space which had been delayed so long that Simone would leave prior to the Elbphilharmonie's opening in 2017. The final cost of 789 million euros was only 700 million euros over the original estimate!
Seeing the Elbphilharmonie finished and attending a performance are highlights of this tour. It's 110 meter glass facade seems to hover above the red brick base of the historic quayside warehouse that it sits on.
The grand hall seats 2100 guests and is unlike any other concert space I've been in. The seats encircle the stage - the acoustics are clearer and you sit much closer to the performers. There's also a Westin Hotel, apartments, a carpark, restraints and cafes in the building. It simply enormous and less than 100 million euros was clearly optimistic!
On Thursday evening, we were treated to a performance of Bruckner and Berg. As requested, I've included a summary of the performances to date in this update.
 |
| Had to "borrow" a promotional photo as the only place you get a clear view is from the water but the structure is visible everywhere as you can see from my photos... |
 |
| Another "borrowed" photo shows the grand hall at the centre of the building. You enter via "The Tube" a slightly curved 82 metre long escalator. |
 |
| Up The Tube |
 |
| Our group alight from The Tube to spectacular views over the city and harbour but it was raining and grey. |
 |
| You then climb there stairs that splay out in every direction into the Grand Hall - finding your seat is a challenge as there seems no rhyme or reason to the numbering but there are many attendants to help you on your way! There are well-hidden lifts as well.. |
 |
| View from my seat... |
 |
| Spot the organ... |
 |
| Looking towards the rear of the hall |
 |
| Parvo Jarvi and NDR Philharmonic Orchestra take a bow |
 |
| Down The Tube we go... |
On Wednesday evening, we attended a performance of Puccini's "Girl of the Golden West" at the Hamburg State Opera....quite a conventional performance space by comparison. We were continuing our Puccini festival but this was a challenging night. It's the one Puccini opera I've only seen once. It was sung in Italian with German subtitles. It's very common now to have surtitles in English as well in European opera theatres (even Russian). A bit of reading and listening prior to the performance and I struggled through.
 |
| Another great performance much appreciated by the audience |
 |
| Our program of performances to date... |
Hamburg is also a special place for this family history enthusiast as 4 of my 2nd great grandparents sailed from the port in the mid 1800s to Australia - Anton and Margaretha Gersbach and Henry Winton from Germany and Peter Benson Lutge from Denmark. So when I heard there was an Emigration Museum, a visit was essential. While it was generally interesting, the focus was from the 1880s and there was NO mention of migration to Australia! Emigration to the USA was the primary focus. The comment I made as I left fell on deaf ears....so I wouldn't recommend a visit.
 |
| Port of Hamburg today - largest in Germany and third busiest in Europe |
 |
| A visit to the central courtyard of Hamburg City Hall provides a quiet retreat from the city hustle and bustle and a great spot for coffee |
 |
| One for Sue C - lobby of Hamburg City Hall |
 |
| One for Ray W - those rhododendrons are so suited to the climate! |
 |
| St Michael's victory over the devil - Lutheran church, Hamburg |
