I hear you, and I apologise. I didn’t mean “to fight” in that sense and I certainly didn’t mean to imply you aren’t doing everything you can.

I also don’t believe in miracles in the religious way, it was just a shorthand for extraordinarily unlikely outcomes.

What I do mean to say is that if you continue to endure these things for as long as there are things to endure - is there a chance, no matter how small, that the mRNA treatment eliminates the cancer cells and you can live longer afterwards?

I think choosing an infinitesimally small chance of success in this matter is better than choosing not to try it. It is easy for me to say, but I have also been in similar situations in the past (enduring treatment with no ability to affect the outcome myself, having hope against tiny odds, etc.).

I was born with a severe heart defect so in my life I have had a series of surgeries, every few years, and many changes of medication and hoping that I’d keep living until the next breakthrough came along. So far it’s kept pace.

Where should I start if I want to get into classical music / operas?

How can one tell a good conducter from a bad?

No, because they can't - Its very hard to predict how someone will die - intial guesses where two month - of which one of, i will feel 'ok'. The biggest problem right know is my lung. I bleed quite a lot. But there are many people here whose only job it is to make my dying as smooth as possible.

Today i joined something that is called sterbehilfe: https://www.sterbehilfe.de/ . you pay money and when you decide for yourself, now every day is just torture - they prepare for you to basically put yourself into a position where you can end your life with their assistance - but you by yourself have to push the button? At least that how we interpreted it.

I started by singing in a choir, then piano, then some violin. In general, conductors are trained to listen to all instruments for blend, balance, quality of tone. One has to know what you want to hear and with experience you learn how to ask for what you are looking for.

What piece of media most accurately depicted the world of classical music? Is it really as bad as Tar made it out to be?

Good question. At the big opera houses, there are always "cover singers" who are ready to take over if someone feels ill. It’s happened to me that we have had to fly someone in who knows the opera role, but not the staging. So you sometimes have the situation in which the singer is singing from the side of the stage and someone in the production acts the part on stage.

in symphony concerts, if a violin soloist breaks a string, it’s common for the concertmaster to hand over his violin to the performer.

It caught me a bit off-guard 10 or so years ago when I had to troubleshoot some software supporting fax features. I was like "who the hell still use fax nowadays?!", apparently germans. It isn't as prevalent in Sweden but sometimes it is used for legal binding documents, although not usually the preferred method. Must be closer to 25 years ago I used a physical fax machine.

I live in Regensburg - Germany, which incidentally is known for a huge and very good University Hospital - lots of young and eager doctors - i could not have been in better care!

When you started learning music, what instrument did you learn and do you feel when you conduct that you find yourself listening for that group of instruments more after training with it?

I love karaoke! My Japanese and Korean friends always take me to places for late night fun. We usually listen to the Beatles, or other "oldies" like that which I appreciate. They captured an era and you can really hear it in the music.

Yes i had a seminoma - but it turned out to be a mixed seminoma - some cells did not respond to platin (which should theoretically hinder my cancer cells from multiplying and thus dying faster then they can reproduce again).
I'm not a doctor but as far as i know a pure seminoma has over >90% success chance with the standard PEB therapy!

Singing in a choir is one of the best gifts you can give your kids and yourself. Not only is the music enriching, but there’s a social aspect as well, like a team sport. I would recommend a voice teacher once a week If you are pressed for time.

Definitely bring your kids to the opera. I do with mine as young as 6. They won’t understand everything, but they’ll love the battle scenes! And the spectacle!

There’s only one Principal Conductor at the Opera in San Diego and at other organizations, though they go by different names- Chief Conductor, Music Director, etc.

We do have a Resident Conductor in San Diego. I’m in San Diego once or twice a year for an opera, and the Resident conductor usually does one opera. We also have guest conductors come.

Rehearsing opera takes time. Usually anywhere between 2-4 weeks before you start performing. In the German/Austrian system which is called a repertory system, meaning a different opera every night, they can have as little as 4 days to rehearse. But that makes for rocky performances sometimes!

No i haven't and now i don't have the time :) At the moment i feel i cope ok - but a persons psyche is very fragile - who knows how i will be feeling if the end comes. We will see :)

Good morning, I have always wondered what conductors do if someone who is to perform a solo has a some sort of issue with their instrument before the solo. Is there a backup soloist or a signal for someone else to take over? Are there spare instruments in case something goes wrong with an instrument during a performance?

I absolutely know. I actually own one and use it regularly because of bureaucracy.

Do you shred it at karaoke? Have any favorite pop songs or artists? Any popular artists who you think would make great opera singers?

I try repost here :

https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/10rts0o/im_m_31_years_old_from_germany_and_am_dying_of/

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if it is removed there as well, well at last i got to talk to here for a little bit :) it was fun while it lasted! Have a good life Folks! Be nice to each other :)

I love some of the premieres I’ve seen at the Metropolitan. Operas by Corigliano, Glass, Dun, Picker, Puts.

I really love to sing, but now that I'm in my middle age, I don't feel like there's a lot of great opportunities to sing in choirs etc with a super busy schedule. Any recommendations for keeping this part of my life alive and kicking? Maybe even online resources. Hoping to get my kids out to see an opera sometime in the next year with you guys!

every piece is difficult to conduct. In their own way, they all have their difficulties. Our Gianna Schicchi is a really tricky ensemble opera that needs to fit in with the orchestra like a fast moving puzzle. But Suor Angelica has its own tricky bits, with the flexibility required to paint the character‘s emotions.

funny stories? Here’s one! I was just starting the overture to Gounod’s Faust at the Paris Opera when the lights totally went out in the pit. Much to my amazement, the orchestra just kept playing the 3" overture until they got to the end without seeing their music. It was astonishing (and scary). Turns out the electricians were going on strike (during the performance!)

I think Germany (and perhaps Japan) is one of the last countries to use fax in daily business. :)

Why was this removed?

at what age did you start playing a musical instrument?

You're principal. How many other conductors do orchestras typically employ? And how much rehearsal time goes into a big production like this?