German audiences give raucous applause to choir, orchestra

MUNICH, Germany — Just under a week into their western European tour, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square have performed concerts in Berlin and Nuremburg — and folks on tour are still talking about what may be a defining moment thus far.

It happened during the second half of the Berlin concert on Wednesday. The final note of “Battle of Jericho” had scarcely been sounded when an enthusiastic audience member yelled out, “Whoah!”

“It wasn’t just that he said it, it was the way he drug it out and the scoop that he put into the tone of voice,” said bass singer Bob Walker. “It was exuberant! I felt an electrical energy go through the people around me when he said that, because it was the kind of real-time feedback that told us we were on track.”

Perhaps it was Ryan Murphy’s animated direction of the African-American spiritual, or Moses Hogan’s arrangement that drew forth such a passionate reaction. But some here are seeing a deeper meaning in it as they consider the line “and the walls came tumbling down” and apply it to the removal of the Berlin Wall, that hated icon of the Cold War.

Earlier in the day, choir and orchestra members and guests had viewed the remains of the wall. Much of it has been dismantled since 1989, when the breaching of the wall became a symbol of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and its attendant control over East Germany.

“I’ve already felt the Spirit powerfully as

Article source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865657371/German-audiences-give-raucous-applause-to-choir-orchestra.html?pg=all