Classics and a Picnic in the Park.

The stage and orchestra

The open-air concert today in the Buerger Park was wonderful, with the music of Richard Strauss, Mozart, Richard Wagner and Franz Lehar performed during the first half, and then in the second half, the modern music of Leonard Bernstein, Irving Berlin, Leroy Anderson, George Gershwin and Cole Porter to name but a few, all performed on the open stage. 

The city's Theatre Orchestra played with vigour, and accompanied the soloists who sang, "I could have Danced all Night,"  "Anything you can do I can do better,"  "and  "I Love Paris in the Springtime."   We sat in the shade under a pink flowering horse chestnut tree, drank beer, ate crisps and a Currywurst, and watched the crowds doing exactly the same thing.  Apparently 18,000 people attended the concert which is sponsored every year by  Volkswagen, and with free entry to all.

I heard the concert last year and the lovely green balloons were again much in evidence, most tied tightly to garden chairs and to the wrists of small children.  The whole occasion was good fun, and took place in wonderfully warm weather in the large park beside the River Oker.



A distant stage and the lovely green balloons.

The nearest green balloon in this photo was tethered on a twisted string, and I had to wait until the wording came round before I could quickly photograph it.