A Delightful Concert

We were able to spend 3 days and 3 nights with the Leben's.  On Saturday night Matthias and Petra took us to a wonderful concert in an old monastery in the town of Walkenried in the Harz mountains. It was about a one hour drive from their home in Salzgitter (which is near Hannover, Germany).  Not only was the venue beautiful, but the concert was so pleasant.  The weather was almost perfect and the acoustics were very nice.  The program consisted of some of the classic composers - Elgar, Mozart and Haydn.  The concert lasted about 90 minutes and was a lot of fun.  The last part was Joseph Haydn (German spelling) and the story was told that Haydn slyly convinced his patron, Prince Nicolas Esterhazy to end his summer stay at a remote summer palace.  The prince wanted the musicians nearby which kept them away from their families.  They wanted to go home to their families, but the  Prince insisted that they stay until he gave permission to go.  During the last movement of the concert, each musician would leave one by one until there were only two violinists on the stage with the conductor.  The audience enjoyed this mock revolt and all the musicians came back to take their bows and hear everyone clap for the program.  It was a great concert and a very fun evening.

The picture below is for Susan's family.  Her mother's maiden name was Bischoff.  The Bischoff's' immigrated to St. Louis, Mo., USA from Germany in the 1850's.  "Eck" means corner.  This restaurant is on the corner of the street.  

"Remember the past learn from the it, Contemplate the future prepare for it, Live in the present; serve in it."  Thomas S. Monson, Teaching of Thomas S. Monson