What a beautiful day yesterday was. A cold winter day with clear air and bright sunshine. And a special event was ahead. A few days earlier, I received an email from Andrea, a good friend whose very first concert—the Christmas Oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach—I supported 22 years ago as a sponsor and singer.
She wrote that she had spontaneously been given access to the monastery church in Schlehdorf and wanted to perform the Christmas Oratorio there. For the joy of God, the musicians, and the listeners. Without a rehearsal, just like that.
The last time we did something without rehearsal was in 2021 during the COVID pandemic, when we made music using the same approach but without an audience. This time, however, it was different. No distancing, no masks—just over 150 performers in the choir area and a full audience. Andrea briefly explained what was important to her, and after 25 minutes of preparation, we began.
It became a wonderful concert. Not everything went perfectly, but the sound in the cold church was magnificent. After the long standing ovations from the enthusiastic audience, people either went out together for dinner or returned home uplifted by the music.
But why is this an anecdote, and why is it here on the blog?
Well—Meze did not yet exist in 2002, and ULTRASONE was still relatively young. In 2001, Andrea planned her very first concert with great dedication and deep emotion. As a trained musician, she ventured into something new and received a great deal of encouragement and support for the project. At the time, I had already been active in the church choir for seven years and, of course, signed up to sing as a tenor. Since we knew each other, we also talked about her feelings during the preparation of the work. She rehearsed long and intensively with the choir, tried many things that had never been done in rehearsals before, brought a fresh approach, and explained so much so thoroughly that my relationship with music changed permanently.
Understanding what you are singing, knowing the subtleties of the work and the quality of the composer—but even more so the knowledge of the background—changed music for me forever and intensified its emotional impact.
At some point, Andrea confessed to me that she was very worried about being left with the costs of the concert and that this burden weighed heavily on her during the preparations. My spontaneous response at the time was that she should focus on the music, not the money. If there were any shortfall, I would cover it with ULTRASONE and additionally make an offer to the musicians to get to know the brand.
The concert turned out to be a great success, and Andrea began a wonderful path as the conductor of many concerts.
But it was also the most emotional concert of my life to this day, because with all the knowledge of her worries and those of Bach, I could almost read her thoughts during the concert—thoughts that were with two beloved people who have since passed away.
And yesterday, I took my old sheet music out of the cupboard to make music with her once again. In those notes, the small insert from the 2002 concert is still there, with our advertisement from back then. All the memories came back, and they were unmistakably visible in Andrea as well—especially when the wonderful alto arias were performed.
Music is emotion, and yesterday it was once again wonderfully tangible.
Thank you, Andrea!
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