Romania choir blog no 4.
Friday – the day of our visit to Bran Castle aka Dracula’s Castle!
Firstly – why “Dracula’s Castle? Bram Stokes heard many of the gruesome tales around the infamous 15th century local hero who became known as ‘Vlad the Impaler’ due to his terrible cruelty.
It’s probable that Vlad the Impaler stayed at Bran Castle at some point, and this castle is definitely the only one that fits the description in the Dracula stories. During the communist period, the Dracula connection was not mentioned, but since the fall of communism and the restoration of the castle to its former owners, the Dracula connection is encouraged, bringing in the tourists in big numbers and spawning a lot of shops around, selling Dracula tat. Our conductor entered into the spirit by putting on his black cape and fangs to conduct us in the castle. Dracula didn’t ever have to blow a tuning device, however. The fangs had to be removed to get the correct note!
By far the most moving history was that of the fortunes of the recent owners of the castle, particularly after we were met at the entrance by the present owner, introduced as His Imperial Highness Dominic Habsburg – Lothringen.
We heard about how his grandmother Queen Maria (granddaughter of Queen Victoria) had been a very important influence in WW1 and the subsequent creation of Romania in 1918. In gratitude, she was given Bran Castle, and spent a lot of money restoring it. The Archduke told us that he had lived there for 10 years as a child.
Our young tour guide went bright red and looked very embarrassed when the Archduke popped up later in the tour and listened! We learnt that the royal family and relatives had been forced to flee by the communists after the 2nd World War and spent 60 years in exile, before eventually returning to the castle in 2006.
Our 20 minute performance took place inside the castle, as it was raining outside. Dozens of tourists trooped through the room as we sang. We were ‘singing for our supper’ as all 62 of us had been given free entry in return for the performance.
The Archduke listened to it all. He said that he felt very emotional as, when his family had returned to the castle after all those years in exile, he had a wish for the castle to be ‘filled with song’.
As a final farewell, we sang our Romanian song in the courtyard, so that the song would rise up to all the levels of the castle. The castle posted a Facebook video, which has been shared on our Facebook page.
Unfortunately, Facebook videos can’t be shared here, but you might enjoy this recording we’ve been sent of us singing the same song with the Youth choir Cor cu Dor on Wednesday.
The coaches took as back to Brasov for a few hours rest and recuperation in the afternoon. Most of us sought out restaurants for a mid afternoon lunch / dinner.
Then it was back on the coaches to the Sala Patria in Brasov for our rehearsal and evening concert, having carried our choir clothes and music around all day. We were very relieved that chairs were found, so that the weary singers didn’t have to stand throughout the concert, holding folders of heavy music.
It was a lovely hall with a beautiful grand piano for Kevin to play (in contrast to the piano – keyboard we’ve been taking round with us). We now know the works well and are enjoying singing them. However, the small audience was rather disappointing. We were pleased to see some visually impaired people in the audience from the charity we had collected for at our last concert in Birmingham. Liz Collins, our chair, went to speak to them after the performance. Once again, our Romanian song went down well, with murmurs of approval when it was announced, and clapping along as we sang. Our small but appreciative audience rose to its feet as they applauded, bringing a long day to a good conclusion!
