Even though I spend an impressive amount of time in the front of the computer, playing computer games - not even chess - was never on my priority lists, not because I am so intellectual, but because I do not have the patience to do it. I am a different kind of personality, let's say.
No wonder that when I received an invitation to go to the Zelda Symphony in Berlin, held the last week, on another rainy day, I was more excited to see the Tempodrom than to get some more information about Zelda. All I know is that is has to do with a computer game and it will be a show of lights and sound. Always in a hurry, I not even had the time to read 2-3 lines about who Zelda is and what are her hobbies.
Since moving here, as I go very often around Potsdamer Platz, I saw the white tent of the Tempodrom, but either I was not aware what it is or I did not find anything tempting enough to prompt me to buy tickets for a concert there. Opened in 1980, during the Cold War, closed and renovated in the first decade of the 21st century, the Tempodrom is a huge circular precinct that can host around 3,800 people, with an interesting architecture and with an autonomous energy-saving system.
Despite the bad weather - that might be something 'normal' after you live here for a while - and the high prices of the tickets - from 60 to 100 Euro - the Tempodrom was almost full for the concert. Among the public, everything that you can see in Berlin in a year: emos, rock stars, curious people, elegant ladies and gents, children and their hippy parents. And a lot of fans of Zelda, some dresses in the costumes of the characters of the game. And me, probably the only one that never ever heard about Zelda before.
As in the case of any computer/Nintendo games, the design and ideas developed from the 2D to the nowadays 3D versions. Many of the participants were intensively playing Nintendo games while waiting at the wardrobe, in line for a coke at the mini-bar or when walking. A message of our world: plan a gathering out with friends and get together at the same table playing silently each with his/her Nintendo. The story as such is the usual confrontation between good and evil and you, as a conscious player, you should help the characters to win against the bad and the ugly.
My biggest surprise will be the Symphony. As the game industry developed in an amazing pace, it is normal to offer to the fans as many diversity as possible. The music produced for the computer games is a domain per se and is done with the same professional dedication as the professional design of the game. Looking around at the people present at Zelda, I realized what does it mean in practice: there were people knowledgeable in everything related to the game, from the history and to the episodes in the life of the characters.
Under the interpretation of the Film Orchestra from Babelsberg, Potsdam, the symphony was one of the most pleasant experiences of the last week. It was not necessarily the classical good movie music, it was a good musical work both in terms of interpretation and motives. As in the case of the games, the symphony itself develops from a season to another, with new fragments added, in many cases following the express desires of the fans. The musical interpretation was complemented by images from the games, as it develops around the main themes of the adventures of Zelda. I must recognize that I was expecting something more spectacular in terms of playing with the lights and the 3D effects.
The show took place in the presence of the producer of the Symphony of the Goddesses, Jason Michael Paul, a passionate Zelda fan himself. Even though I bet more than 75% of those present at the concerts were more than fluent in English, the organizers brought also a kind of funny looking and behaving translator, that was playing the role of the entertaining clown, but to be honest was doing it in a very pathetic way. Maybe I forgot that people were there to relax at a Symphony inspired by a video game and I was not at Scala.
Another small disappointment was the mess of some members of the guidance personnel that were not able always to guide correctly the visitors, especially when the communication language was English. Maybe I should visit Tempodrom more often and understand how it is organized, as after this first experience I still had the feeling of getting lost.
The last week I tried another new experience in Berlin. I am already late this week with the planning of my adventures in the city.
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| Another rainy day in Berlin, but many opportunities for indoors activities at the Tempodrom |
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| This means the real devotion: getting dresses as your favourite computer game character |
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| A look at the orchestra setting, before the start. Once the concert started, dozens of lights of the iPhones and iPads were put at work. |
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| Some interesting corners of the Tempodrom. |
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