New York: Two Music Halls - Two Museums

Yannick Nézet-Séguin (conductor) and The Metropolitan Orchestra (not part of the New York Philharmonic!) vs. Luisa Proske (production) and Jon Bausor (set designer)/Montana Levi Blanco (costume designer) - 'only eleven months were available for this production', - Nicholas T Reinhart (Met's Director of Education during the Tuesday Talk before the performance confidentially shared with us): Proske stepped in as director, just as Lise Davidson did as Lady Macbeth, while Quinn Kelsey was confirmed as Macbeth. Acoustically, in the Met, the very last=highest Row K of the Family Circle is the best spot (as a ticket seller assured me during my first visit in May 2025, and that is true!). In this 'Macbeth,' everything musically was simply perfect, a strong impression. In terms of staging, however - a directorial concept akin to a concert performance (exclusively stage singing!) with a set design that looks like it was pulled from the costume depot of the Victoria and Albert Museum deep in the Albert Hall (a lot of plush and frippery in a dark cave). I wonder where this concept comes from? Luisa Proske's biography might provide the key: she spent extended periods in Halle/Saale and New York as 'artistic director,' where she surely experienced the frippery and stage singing well and knows, above all, what the Met audience particularly loves - applause and cheers after each song. Just like on Broadway, which runs right by the Met.

Broadway is the benchmark, that's what I've understood, especially since I had the comparison ready. Because the day before, I was at 'Chicago' in The Ambassador. The third live musical of my life. Before that, it was Jesus Christ Superstar (1979 in London) and The Lion King (2018 in Hamburg): Religious mash-up - Jungle mash-up - Striptease mash-up. This time in the Ambassador with its plush and wooden wall paintings resembling a baroque peasant's chest. With a decent ensemble, a tired orchestra including a gentleman conducting the music, and a set design reminiscent of the Moulin Rouge. The dancing was really good, lively over the not very large stage, although: full nightclub readiness was missing pole dancing. How one can still have women perform with widely spread legs facing the audience today remains a mystery to me.

Alongside these indoor musical theater experiences, there was also the successful blend of indoor & outdoor museum experiences. Herbert George Wright's architecture, with its transition from outside to inside (and vice versa), represents my ideal of architecture overall, its gentle building the counterpoint to Mies van der Rohe's brilliantly clear corners. Inside the Guggenheim, there was a total exhibition (Taryn Simon, Father Country I do Love You) and a superb collection exhibition on two decades (1903 - 1923). You could see what transpired there, from serious painting to ephemeral installation. The most beautiful aspect, aside from van Gogh's Paysage enneigé, was the audience - many truly beautiful people from all over the world.

People from all over the world can also be seen on the statues & museum tour in the historic harbor entrance of New York. Completely touristy at the Statue of Liberty, everyone gets off the boat and back on board. Much less interested and fewer in number at Ellis Island, as most take the Hornblower boat without disembarking, going back to Battery Park. That’s where the immigrants disembarked too, unless they were first (because of physical or mental defects) detained and sent back 12%! The Statue of Liberty, I must say, is one of the strongest symbols worldwide. It was also prominently replicated at Tiananmen Square during the protests, which I didn't know, just as I didn’t know that the inner construction comes from Gustave Eiffel and the copper for the statue is from Norway. This is conveyed at the Statue Island Museum. At the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, I passed the public test for 'naturalization' with 7/10, marveled at the sleeping arrangements like on the immigrant ships, thought of Kafka's 'AMERIKA,' and watched a five-minute film about the neighborhood of QUEENS and its residents from all over the world. Had just under two hours.

Queens, I also stay in 'The Local NY' - a hostel of course, highly recommended! I will keep Queens in mind for the future as a neighborhood.