November 2000 - Nr. 11
Dick reports...
You Are Sitting in the Wrong Train!…
The husband had to take his wife to the train station – to
visit her mother. All the way to the station she kept talking and talking,
even after she had gotten on the train and rolled down the window she kept
talking and her husband couldn’t get a word in edgewise. So the husband,
still standing on the platform wrote a little note in his notebook, tore it
out and handed it to his wife as the train started to pull out. On the note
it said ‘You are on the wrong train!’
That and other wonderfully humorous anecdotes and stories
were the gist of Marianne Martins comedy routine. She had the audience in
stitches at times – those that understood her "Saxonian" dialect
anyway. With that toastmaster routine Marianne bridged the breaks in the
various sets that the "Duo Wappler" performed at the Danube
Swabian club recently.
Dieter and Helga Wappler are phenomenal performers. The
instruments: Masterfully played Keyboard, a rare clean and clear Trumpet
plus the wonderful soft and mellow sound of the Zither, at times accompanied
by song. Two marvellous hours of super entertainment that I am glad I didn’t
miss.
But I was not the only one that did not miss this performance; the hall was packed with a very appreciative audience who clapped with the rhythms, ‘schunkelt’ and even danced, when the music allowed this.
The
"Duo Wappler" hails from Schönheide in the "Erzgebirge"
region of Saxony - a mountainous area in the centre of Germany - formerly
belonging to "East-Germany". (Leipzig, Dresden & Chemnitz are
some of the larger cities in Saxony).
One of the many arts and crafts this region is famous for are the fabulous and famous woodcarvings. Marianne explained to us what the woodcarver said when she inquired how he does his wonderful carvings. "Oh," he said, " it is really quite simple, I take a piece of wood and just cut away everything I don’t need. Simple, right?"
Marianne Martin was an ideal M.C. She is well known in Germany with the MDR Radio and MDR Television – and now also in Canada. At least by the audience that was lucky enough to attend this performance.
While
I am on the subject of entertainment at the Danubeswabian club, there was
another surprise in store for us two days later.
The
"Jugendmusik Dübedorf" (Dübedorf is located about 5 minutes from
Zurich, Switzerland) performed at the club as part of their North American
concert tour that took them to Indianapolis, Cleveland. Toronto and
Montreal.
Again
it was a wonderful experience for an appreciative audience. How
appreciative, you ask? Over 1000.00 dollar appreciative, that’s how! All
in voluntary contributions when some of the hosts passed the hat, so to
speak.
The
orchestra, directed by Olivier Scurio, consisted of 52 young musicians from
12 to 22 years of age. The selections they played ranged from Jacques
Offenbach’s La Belle Heléne, via Lehar, ABBA, James Bond themes, marches,
Ragtime, Alphorn – a must for a Swiss Band – to Tequila. Simply great.
Something for everyone’s taste, including the 20 "Schlachtenbummler"
that had come along for the ride.
The
hall was nicely filled, which is unusual for a Monday night and – since
the restaurant is closed on Mondays – a wonderful buffet was available
with Schnitzels, potatoes, vegetables and salad, to placate the inner
persons.
The drum section of the band performed a number of solo renditions of marching music, conducted by Albert Stutz, that were quite pleasant, albeit a bit unusual – reminiscent almost of the "Guggenmusik" , "the only music I ever heard performed by Swiss musicians", said someone in the audience, "but pleasingly ‘in tune’ for a change".
Even
though playing in a large band – or any band – is hard work, the young
performers seemed to enjoy every note they played. Well, the thunderous
applause helped too!
See also: "More News"! As always
Dick Altermann
Comments to: dick@echoworld.com
