Barenboim hands over the baton
OrchestrasFrom a correspondent in Berlin:
Touching ceremony last night at the Staatsoper in Berlin when a very frail Daniel Barenboim received the title of Honorary Chief Conductor and ‘passed the baton’ to his successor, Christian Thielemann.
Involuntary comic relief came with the Senator for Culture, Joe Chialo, who thanked the orchestra for music by Schöneberg (a Berlin suburb). Not until the audience burst into laughter did he realize that he meant Schönberg (Austrian composer).
picture from 2023
Comic relief? Or a terrible sign of the current state of affairs?
A new dimension of Fremdschämen. He was probably thinking about to which club in Schöneberg he would go dancing in after the concert, instead of what he had heard 5 minutes before (a brilliant performance of Pelleas und Melisande).
Thank you, DB, your place in music performance history is assured, let that not be in doubt. Your role in creating dialogue between people through art is equally recognised. Never in recent times has that been more needed than now. Let music-making in Berlin continue without missing a single beat.
Is this satire?
“Involuntary comic relief came with the Senator for Culture, Joe Chialo, who thanked the orchestra for music by Schöneberg (a Berlin suburb). Not until the audience burst into laughter did he realize that he meant Schönberg (Austrian composer).”
It’s a bit liked when JFK famously compared himself to a donut.
Yawn.
No, JFK did not compare himself to a donut.
Even though a certain type of pastry is referred to as “Berliner” in some parts of Germany (but not in Berlin!) as well, if you are a male person and want to say that you are from Berlin, you would exactly say “Ich bin ein Berliner”.
Correct me, native Berliners only please, if I’m wrong, but I believe one would not say “Ich bin EIN Berliner” but rather merely “Ich bin Berliner”.
My understanding is that by adding the article “ein” one is making “Berliner” into an object (a jelly donut) instead of a person.
Native German and former Berliner here. (No, German grammar in Berlin does not differ from other parts of the country.)
Your understanding is wrong. Including the article or not does not change the meaning of the phrase. Period.
No.
An object OR A SUBJECT (of many). Both.
„Ich bin ein Berliner“: I‘m one of you all today, ein Berliner.
„Ich bin Berliner.“: I‘m from Berlin (but JFK was not)
“Ich bin ein Berliner” is not exactly idiomatic, but it does not sound like one is talking about a jelly donut per se. This gaffe is much overstated.
Not only overstated but rather an urban legend apparently popular in the English language area.
As other posters have mentioned already, there’s indeed a nuance of a difference between adding or omitting the article (without it, you rather plainly refer to where you are from, and with “ein” you make yourself part of the community), but it has nothing to do with the pastry.
Whoever wants to uphold the claim that JFK declared himself to be a donut, please provide a single reputable German source for this.
And yes, I’m proud to say “Ich bin ein Frankfurter” and no, I’m not a sausage.
Uh … no. You would say „Ich bin Berliner“.
Says who?
Both options are absolutely correct, and whether you include the article or not makes absolutely no difference.
No. Ask a German person. If you want to say: « I am a Berlin citizen », you say: « Ich bin Berliner » but if you want to say: « I am one of you » you say: « Ich bin ein Berliner »
Good point. Yes, there is this slight nuance I didn’t mention where adding or omitting the article makes a certain difference, but it’s just a nuance and in no way related to pastry.
Urban legend
Sounds more like a Fox News legend.
There was a Senator named Joe
Who didn’t have the slightest clue:
Schönberg with Schöneberg he confused;
The establishment was much amused
And laughed at him throughout the show.
In return, they got budget cuts,
Which really got their pampered guts.
don’t quit your day job.
Schöneberg is a neighborhood, not a suburb.
The picture is definitely not from 2023.
Joe Chialo is no jelly donut. And he knows 101 about music. He’s helping cut 20 percent from Berlin’s cultural budget. Bravo Joe!
Oh bless him, what an end to an illustrious career. Barron-boim and Beethoven- go together like fish and chips !
Thank you for all that fantastic music. Victoria x
Senator for Culture Joe Chialo is a singer. Here you can see him in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=25&v=lTb3WfNG40M&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pro-medienmagazin.de%2Fals-einziger-schwarzer-im-cdu-bundesvorstand-der-katholik-joe-chialo%2F&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY
Do you call that singing?
No, of course not. But I am not sure what we should call it.
All this talk about suburbs and donuts. The word that caught my attention was “frail”. Daniel Barenboim has brought so much to the world, and we must be grateful, and wish him a happy retirement. Many thanks Maestro.
Daniel Barenboim was and is a legend in so many ways: his phenomenal piano playing, his marriages to beautiful and talented women; another thing that comes to mind is his many passports, most likely as a plea of belonging, peace and acceptance. In his later years I like or may be love him even more for his early Beethoven Sonatas, where he treats every note, every nuance as a priceless treasure. Thank you for everything, Maestro