We should have known—even the clouds would listen to us when we performed the beautiful Hungarian song “Bodzavirág” on stage. And so, almost exactly as the song describes, the showers fell from the clouds, which had opened up in the sky just like the elderflowers we were singing about. Our first nature concert on the open-air stage on the Freundschaftsinsel on May 31 immediately put everyone’s connection to nature to the test, especially that of our loyal audience—the choirs themselves stood under a waterproof sunshade, so whoever sang didn’t get wet. Pastel-coloured rain capes were handed out to the audience, and for a moment you could have believed you were standing in a forest clearing surrounded by blooming foxgloves.
It was a special concert in every respect: the first performance of our new nature-themed programme, a joy- and tuneful reunion with the wonderful Inselbühne, and a joint concert with Salto Tonale, a choir from the Havelland region. Even during our vocal warm-up exercises together, there were plenty of lovely tunes and sounds to be heard. Above all, we now know what ‘the witch’ (our high-pitched, loud cackling to warm up the high notes) sounds like in the Havelland – namely, even wilder! Thanks to the Inselbühne’s extremely talented sound engineer, we weren’t drowned out by the rain, wind, or the extremely loud counter-melodies of Blackbirds and Icterine warblers. The audience showed their appreciation with their enthusiastic applause and, above all, their perseverance. Thought-provoking facts and statements on the biodiversity crisis alternated with short, often funny and surprising reflections from choir members on nature and our favourite places in the natural world.
The CIP sang first, and after our performance came a special highlight: the song “El Grillo”, an Italian frottola from the early 16th century, performed together with Salto Tonale, followed by Salto Tonale’s programme under the direction of Tobias Kielinger. A really lovely choir with whom, as we all agreed, we harmonised very well in many different ways. After two hours, we left the beautiful Inselbühne, some of us wet but full of euphoria. As the song “El Grillo” states – those who sing for love sing best (and longest)!
Many thanks are due to Salto Tonale, the Inselbühne, our sound engineer, all the helpers, and above all – our audience! The next open-air concert is coming up soon at the “Toleranz Bewegt Potsdam” festival at the Sandscholle sports ground on 13 June. Let’s see if our rain-song works its magic there too and the elderflowers in the sky open up again!
