This blogger, yours truly Odd Pavarotti, is off to Berlin very soon! Time to intensify my planning to make sure this Berlin trip will be as Pavarotti flavoured as possible! Here is a tentative plan that I’ll have to negotiate with my fellow travellers:
Day 1
Arrival: Quick currywurst just to get into the Berliner food culture. Big Luciano would have liked a big currywurst!
In the evening: Off to Staatsoper im Schiller Theater to see Verdi’s opera Don Carlo. This performance will feature the German bass RenĂ© Pape as Philipp II and the Italian tenor Fabio Sartori as Don Carlo, the same role that Pavarotti sang at La Scala.
Fabio Sartori is indeed the new Italian tenor of today, or “The new Pavarotti” if you will! Look out for future blog posts on “the new Pavarottis”, like Fabio Sartori and all the other new Italian tenors!
I saw this production of Don Carlo at the Staatsoper im Schiller Theater in May 2011, that time also with Pape and Sartori. It was wonderful! It was one of the best opera performances I’ve ever seen and heard! I will never forget it! I just have to see this production again! Highly recommended! 🙂
And so you know it: Schiller Theater is the temporary house for the Staatsoper while their beautiful house at Unter den Linden is being restaurated.
Where to eat dinner after such an experience? May I suggest Pizzeria Pavarotti in Albrechtstrasse 70, or will someone insists that we grab a bite to eat at Dicke Wirtin on Savignyplatz?
Day 2
After a long and lazy hotel breakfast Odd Pavarotti will be looking for second-hand Pavarotti LPs all over Berlin. During the day there will be time for a Pavarotti kebab.
In the evening: Off to Komische Oper to see the Handel’s opera Serse (Xerxes) in a production staged by the Norwegian Stefan Herheim. Not a great Pavarotti connection here, but Pavarotti did sing one Handel aria in his life.
But it’s opera! In Italian! Odd Pavarotti is so looking forward to hear the opening aria Ombra mai fu! I’m very excited because some of my fellow travellers saw this production in May this year and they really loved it.
Where to eat dinner after this Handel experience? May I suggest Ristorante Pavarotti in Mehrower Allee 52, or will someone insists on something other than Italian tonight? Asian, maybe?
Day 3
After another long and lazy hotel breakfast Odd Pavarotti will be heading to the western parts of Berlin to take pictures of a certain church. This church was the recording venue for one of Pavarotti’s greatest opera recordings. I’m not telling you which church and which opera, because I want you to wait desperately for the blog post! 🙂
Afterwards Odd Pavarotti will have lunch in a random Italian restaurant before he will be looking for first hand Pavarotti CDs and DVDs all over Berlin! Maybe there also will be some time to visit Waldbühne which is situated close to Berlin’s Olympic Stadium?
Where to eat dinner on what will be this trip’s last evening in Berlin? Why not just visit Pavarotti Pizzeria in Dietzgenstrasse 63, just to put a certain stamp on the day?
Odd Pavarotti don’t know any more pizzerias or restaurants in Berlin with the name Pavarotti, so an alternative might be to visit Ristorante La Favorita in Habelschwerdter Allee 23, or any other Italian restaurant that’s can be related to one of Pavarotti’s operas!
Day 4
Departure late in the day so it’s still time to do many Pavarotti related things in Berlin! Maybe Odd Pavarotti will revisit Deutsche Oper, just for the Pavarotti feel of it.
Odd Pavarotti might also be so lucky to find even one more pizzeria or restaurant which can be related to Pavarotti. At least there must be a pizza with the name Pizza Pavarotti somewhere!
There must be much more to discover related to Pavarotti in Berlin! Surely, Odd Pavarotti will have a great time in Berlin! Don’t you agree? Getting ready to visit Berlin, anyone? 🙂
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