After breakfast a city tour was scheduled, starting with the beautiful parliament building - the third largest in the world. Our tour guide, a wonderfully humorous woman with excellent English, described the different areas of the building and the furnishings including the crown jewels. After leaving the Parliament building, we toured more of the city stopping at the Royal Palace, where the Matyas Church, where Mozart's Coronation Requiem was first performed. Although the church is largely wrapped in canvas because of the on-going restoration, there were beautiful views of the city and the Danube River, which divides the city.
The city tour continued through old town, where in addition to viewing the oldest building in the town dating from the 13th century, many in the choir participated in an ancient (or maybe not so ancient?) ritual of touching one of the many statues for good luck. Most were, of course, thinking that they wanted their performance this evening, the last of the tour, to be exceptional.
The city tour ended at the Szechenyi Baths, where most wanted to enjoy the spa-like pools at different temperatures. Budapest is known for it's baths and natural hot springs. This was a great relief as the temperatures soared to near 100 (or so they said). Those who chose not to go to the baths continued to tour the city on their own.
The evening performance, the last of the tour, was at St Anne's Church, a beautiful church dating from the 18th century era. The church has a magnificent Baroque facade and lavish alter and pulpit. The choir sang for the mass and performed exceptionally for the concert following the mass. The church was the perfect backdrop for an almost flawless performance. Although it was raining after the concert, the choir stayed for an encore performance in front of the chuch for those reluctant to leave.
Our final evening dinner was at a Hungarian restaurant, where performers entertained the crowd from England, Japan and the US during dinner. Several choir members participated in the performance on stage and then entertained the remaining crowd with several of the non-secular numbers.
Reluctantly, we packed for our return to the US tomorrow morning. Wake-up calls are scheduled for 3:15AM with a 4AM departure for the airport.
It was a wonderful tour. The choir was exceptional and we are hoping to get everyone to regroup before leaving for school in the fall for a recording session.
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Boys and Girls!
ReplyDeleteWe received an invitation to a concert of the Oregon Children's Choir and Youth Chorale in the St. Ann Church. Sitting on the edge of the pews, I suddenly saw a young girl in a beautiful black dress, followed by another girl, and, in amazement, I felt like if an angel was shooting past me. When they got to the altar, to my great surprise, I saw a group of young people standing in line waiting for the ladies, who I had taken for angels, standing gracefully in front of the altar, taking up a beautiful position. Facing this ensemble a very smartly dressed lady was standing; later she turned out to be the choir leader. On the left-hand side a young girl holding a flute in her hand was standing beside a piano. When the choir started to sing I felt like angels descended from heaven, the singing of the choir was so fine. Then it came to the flutist lady's turn to play. She was accompanied by the piano, and their playing was beautiful. Well, I felt like the dwellers of Heaven had descended to us. I gazed in appreciation at the choir leader lady as she signalled the end of the song lowering her right hand gracefully. At the end of the concert the choir members formed a semicircle on both sides of the church, as it were, embracing all of us to bid farewell. They were waiting for us at the portal of the church, and were shaking hands with us with a happy smile on their faces. With grateful respect, we would like to express our warmest thanks for this unforgettable, delightful experience.
Best wishes,
Baricsa Sandorne, “Kati”,
in the name of the residents of the Virag Benedek nursing home for the elderly
Budapest, Hungary
H-1201 Budapest
Virag Benedek utca 36.
Contact: Szabo Judit Agnes (szabojudit@freemail.hu)