The following stories are from my memory of events, rehearsals, and trips...such as the filming in Berlin of many of Mr. Balanchine's ballets. I shall begin with that particular event...in 1973.
We were transported to Berlin, Germany, having rehearsed all the ballets to be filmed in New York City. I remember there were many rehearsals, and very long days in preparation for this. I was scheduled to be on various sets for many of the works, and additionally would be filmed in LIEBESLIEDER WALZER as well. Therefore, my beautiful dress was packed along with the costumes in the wardrobe trunks. However, my duo-partner, (Gordon Boelzner) and I were required to record the music IN BERLIN ahead of time for the filming. Thus we left a few days early to do this. At this time Gordon and I were getting along very well....and as I had not yet played a major concert in New York City, while working for the company...he had no issue with me. We arrived in Berlin, checked into our hotel, which was nice and very clean. Since the next day was the beginning of the recording session, I went to bed early, in order to be alert and energetic. Neither of us had any idea about the quality of the singers that would be recording these songs with us. (It would have been nice if we could have selected them ourselves, but somehow that wasn't part of the plan.....BIG MISTAKE!) We left the hotel quite early and were transported by taxi to the recording studio, which turned out to be in East Berlin. I have to mention here that the difference between East and West Berlin was astounding. I could not believe the dismal and depressing landscape of the Eastern half of the city....much of it was destroyed. (During one outing we all took a tour to East Berlin and attended a show there....I will tell that story a bit later.) Anyway we began by rehearsing the songs....and discovered that while 3 of the singers were proficient, the 4th one (a bass) was not up to par. It took a bit of time for him to rise to the occasion, so to speak. He seemed not to notice repeat signs, for one thing. Therefore, we decided to rehearse one song at a time, and then record it immediately. This process seemed to work well....as the singers wouldn't have to remember musical details for long! Some songs took longer than others, of course. It was a very tedious process, as recording often is, and we wanted the final result to be as perfect as possible. The first recording session lasted all day....some 12 hours. Both of us were exhausted after that day, not to mention jet lag. The next day was much the same, although that same bass constantly made mistakes, making it necessary to repeat and repeat his particular songs. (Why can't singers read music anyway? I have always wondered this. Not ALL singers, of course, but many.) We had to edit the tapes after all recording was finished, which took several hours. I could see this was going to be no easy matter. One of the producers dropped in on the recording session to see how we were progressing. I told him about the one singer who had slowed down the entire process. I thought he should know that whoever had chosen the singers had made a grave error. He just told me to do the best we could....ha! What a wonderful piece of advice that was! As if we wouldn't do the best we could. (We were professionals, those singers were NOT!)
The next day rehearsals began for several ballets on various sets. LIEBESLIEDER was not scheduled for filming until the following week, so I was free to work on other works with Rosemary and Mr. B: namely, STARS AND STRIPES, CONCERTO BAROCCO, and SYMPHONY IN C. While I don't remember the exact order of the filming, I do recall the long hours. The German producers were watching rehearsals and told the boys to jump VERY high, indicating with their arms exactly HOW high!
During one lunch break I walked outside to view the sights....and noticed a tall storage tank tower. I asked one of the producers what that was, and he told me! It was a GAS storage tank used for the extermination of all those poor people during World War II all those years ago. And it was still here! This site was one of the main camps where that happened, and here we were filming ballets! I was so appalled and horrified that I immediately went inside to avoid looking at that tower!
The scheduling for LIEBESLIEDER went up...we were to rehearse the ballet the next day, and then begin filming on the following day. We were scheduled to report for makeup on that day.....(8 dancers, 4 singers, 2 pianists) in one of the tents. I reported very early, and have photos of my make-up sessions as well as Gordon's. As there were a total of 14 people to be made up, the process took a while. Our filming didn't start until after lunch, and by then we were really ready to begin! Even though the music had been pre-recorded, Gordon and I played along with the tape. It is hard to fake playing the piano, without actually doing it. At one point, two of the dancers asked us to play a certain section a bit faster! We just looked at them and said that the music is recorded....this is it! We cannot change the tempo! I was laughing, and so were the others. I guess we were very convincing with our acting (playing). Funny!
We were scheduled to be in Berlin for 6 weeks to accomplish the filming.....so there were a number of 'outings' arranged for us. One of these was a trip to East Berlin to see an opera. I was very interested in this, although many were not. I vaguely remember the opera was CARMEN....which has so many familiar and beautiful arias. With these melodies floating through my head, I was cheerfully looking forward to this excursion.
We were taken by bus to the theater in East Berlin. I had heard so much about the BERLIN WALL, and here it was! (We were told NOT to take pictures of this piece of history)...just like in the Soviet Union.) We were also instructed not to make any trouble or cause problems as the USA had no official jurisdiction there..(in case someone was arrested!) East Berlin was just plain depressing, much like the area surrounding the recording studio). The theater was NOT lovely, but very utilitarian looking. There was coffee for sale in paper cups, which wasn't too bad and some odd soft drinks. I opted for the coffee and a strange cookie. THEN we learned that the opera we thought was being offered, had been changed the day before. The new performance was ANATEVKA (Fiddler on the Roof)!! As you may know, this production was choreographed and directed by Jerry Robbins!!! Of course we stayed and watched the performance...we were, obviously, already there! Mr. Balanchine was most amused when he found that we had all been treated to a Jerry Robbins show! Ha! I had seen many of Jerry's Broadway productions...he was definitely a genius in this area. The fact that he had transitioned into classical dance was (when I think about it) nothing short of amazing! A multi-talented individual....he never stopped creating dance of some sort. Although he could be very difficult at times....well, what can one say? He had his demons, but I respected him immensely. Mr. B used to make a little joke involving Jerry....he would say to the dancers, "you better behave, or I'll send Jerry in here!" That usually did the trick! Oddly enough, after I put my foot down regarding his treatment of me, we became good friends. I was invited to many parties at his home on the East side. He knew everyone, and I remember meeting Liza Minelli there on one occasion. Of course, Lenny (Bernstein) was often present as well. Most of these people attended my Tully Hall Concert...Jerry brought many of his friends! That was the milieu in which I lived and worked.
When the filming finished, we all breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a difficult process, and sometimes things got a bit heated. I remember that in NYC the LIEBESLIEDER WALZER film was actually shown in a movie theater on Broadway in the 70's (think it was the Embassy Theater)....and several of us went to see it! How much fun it was to see ourselves on the big screen! There were many close-ups of my hands and face, as well as everyone else's. I had always wanted to be in film...and voila! Here it was!
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