CHIO Aachen: Horse and Symfony

23 June 2013

A trip to America doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to cross the Atlantic.  Sometimes an outing to the Soers in Aachen suffices, because yesterday evening the people attending the “Horse & Symphony” concert in the sold-out Deutsche Bank Stadium were whisked away to the “land of unlimited opportunities”.  The popular open-air event was held parallel to the CHIO Aachen, World Equestrian Festival for the ninth time this year.  The 5,000 spectators experienced the magnificent interplay between wonderful live music performed by the Aachen Symphony Orchestra and atmospheric, spectacular floodlit show numbers on horse or on foot.  It was the new General Music Director of the Aachen Symphony Orchestra, Kazem Abdullah’s debut at this unique event.  Hence, the “Horse & Symphony” also paid homage to the new General Music Director, who comes from America.

Lasso-swinging cowboys, Red Indians, horses, carriages and wagons – this is how we imagine the Wild West.  And that is exactly how the spectators were put in the mood for their journey to America yesterday evening.  Influenced by the music of “Wild, Wild West“ from the ballet “Billy the Kid“ by Aaron Copland a rather brutish and wild mood was created, which is somewhat unusual for the Deutsche Bank Stadium.  Then, the journey continued on to Broadway in glamorous New York with an elegant dressage freestyle.  The shepherd Anne Krüger and her daughter Carla, who led a dog and goats through the dressage arena instead of noble steeds impressed the crowd with songs like “Glitter and be Gay” by Leonard Bernstein and “All that Jazz” from the musical “Chicago“ in addition to further well-known melodies.  The highlight before the break was the joint performance by the world-class dressage rider Helen Langehanenberg and singer Kathy Kelly as “Ladies in Red”.  The duo was announced as the “Extraordinary Couple”: Helen Langehanenberg presented an imaginative freestyle routine on her young horse, Rohjuwel, that has never been seen before, to a medley of the songs “Who will come with me”, “Yo te quiero”, “Morrighan” and “Nay No Nay” performed live by Kathy Kelly – and Germany’s number one dressage rider certainly demonstrated that she is not only at home in competitive sport, she also gives fantastic show performances.  In the break, Kazem Abdullah was visibly impressed: “It is fantastic being here this evening. The atmosphere in the Deutsche Bank Stadium is wonderful and exceptional.  We all feel like we are part of the big CHIO family today.”

The second half of the “Horse & Symphony” was just as spectacular.  The theme here was the four elements water, air, earth and fire.  The introduction got the stadium rocking: To the sounds of a classic version of “Smoke on the water”, Britta Rasche’s horse carried her through strong waves – an amazing depiction of water in the middle of the Deutsche Bank Stadium – to a sandy bank.  The performance of the RV Essen vaulting team was equally impressive.  60 vaulting children transformed the stadium into a colourful scene accompanied by “Dance of the Hours“ from the opera “La Gioconda“ by Amilcare Ponchielli.  Dressed in traditional Bavarian leather shorts, the Oberländer Riding Troop from Bavaria, presented a world unique Hungarian Post Quadrille with 12 horses.  A further highlight was a scene from the new sensational theatre production “Gefährten”, which is based on the film “War Horse”.  Later in the evening the Aachen Symphony Orchestra performed the “War Horse Suite“ written by the composer Adrian Geoffrey Sutton, whilst the protagonist of the theatre production, the horse Joey in the form of an artistic, life-size horse figure, entered the Deutsche Bank Stadium.  A moving performance, which amazed the crowd.

Part of the proceeds are in aid of UNICEF and the “Die Sternsinger“ e.V. children’s mission in Aachen.

Source: CHIO Aachen