Choral Memory – About Geese in the Pot and Harmonious Features

The Geras Choir celebrated their 40th birthday with a wonderful concert at the Geras Marble Hall. The choir presented an incredibly varied and entertaining programme.

The eulogy by Simon Petrus of the Geras Monastery actually made some people smile: as a proven Loriot fan – just like the choir director Ricky Henschling – he quickly adapted the Loriotian “speech” to the circumstances and thus greatly entertained the audience.

Ingo Hofbauer, who was sometimes capable of making incredible connections, led the show with his usual confident and playful style. He linked the song “The Goslings” to the town of Goslaren, whose inhabitants are also called “Goslingers”.

The program brought one highlight after another. Under the brilliant accompaniment of the now-famous pianist Andrea Lenzbauer, who has accompanied greats such as Robert Hall, Adrien Eyraud, Herbert Liebert and Clemens Unterreiner, the range spanned from medieval movements to classical and romantic music such as Beethoven and Schumann to swinging jazz. The range of emotions ranged from the touching to the incredibly funny.

Top soloists, singers and linguistic talents

Jürgen Ramharter, who had recently learned the art of playing the double bass, accompanied the choir in “Lullaby of Birdland” in a swinging and exciting manner. Special mention was due to the soloists Magdalena Kiplinger and 16-year-old Vlada Ruhol, who demonstrated their musical skills and enthralled the audience. In addition to the choir, Magdalena’s “Je vole” was accompanied by sign language. Vlada Ruhol turned into a very calculated “femme fatale” with the song “Stizzoso, mio ​​stizzoso”.

Speaking of languages ​​- the Geras group is not content with one or two languages ​​besides German, there must be some Catalan, Old French or Italian. There was a special section this year for animal songs, such as “Moody Trout”, “Cricket” and, above all, the aforementioned tragic love story of two Gossels, who unfortunately end up in a cooking pot.

Whether the 'Britannia Rule' featured in the play 'The Little Mermaid' – about a sailor who falls overboard and into the arms of a mermaid – contributed to the victory of the British team playing in the European Championships at the same time is something that can be determined and cannot be clearly established at this stage.

The choir masters also proved to be a harmonious masterpiece in two pieces – “Friend, Good Friend” and “Bacchus” as an encore that impressed the audience. In the end, the audience applauded this incredibly enjoyable vocal performance with long, enthusiastic applause.

The Geras Choir was founded as a youth choir about forty years ago by Abbot Michael Prohaska, who died last year, and has been long directed by Ricky Henschling.