That. Summer slump not on arts 21. 00 while everyone is out we set out to and our reporters have made so many fascinating discoveries along the way weve made exciting be able. Talents. And great heroes. All the way from buy a boy to south africa. Our grimms tour of arts on water and land. Time this is a 1st my 1st time swimming in a major waterway in the middle of a city i cant wait but 1st i want to find out a bit more about this her. Been reversed swimming trend. The rhine in basel or father rhine as its often called in german is especially popular for urban swimming from its source high up in the it flows through half of europe river swimming has a long tradition here but being more used to pools and lakes its quite an adventure for me in this sweltering summer people are talking about the concept of urban swimming in cities all over europe and as a former swimmer myself of course im fascinated by this concept because ive never really done it. Sure is here everyone seems to be doing it. Fearlessly into the chilly 20 degree current even with kids in tow they kind of swim downstream to emerge from the water as if reborn is right and you shouldnt underestimate it a river isnt like a lake. The current can be pretty scary especially the. How do you feel before your 1st run swim. Excited yeah a little bit. I decided to take a quick detour to Architecture Museum to see swim city the 1st ever exhibition on urban swimming. As you can see a lot of water all throughout the city and the swiss are very very proud of their tradition of urban river swimming so much so that they found it worthy of a museum exhibition. This is where i meet. Curator avid urban river swimmer and a champion of this burgeoning trend and no you actually have people from all walks of life who do this all generations all social strata and this becomes maybe the most inclusive public spaces possible its a very interesting way to be in the city but actually to understand the city is. Very dominated by of course the geography. More than just cooling off and having fun in the current climate of city sell offs and speculative investments is actually a political act. It is really about reclaiming the city as your as your home as your environment this is were living in this this time where International Investment groups take possession of urban spaces and the center is the most this is the most attractive area so local people get gentrified in other areas and this is the backwash 100 s. Ruby shows me examples from switzerland and elsewhere that prove urban swimming is an International Trend and where people are hopping into the water already theyre planning river pools in new york brussels paris or london every city needs a good swimming hole. In my hometown of berlin the cost was launched a few years ago a competition in the name of a cleaner a as a 2025 that cleaned up water alongside the Historic Museum island will be freely accessible a swimmers dream but 1st some tips for remembering from aston to scene from the outside it looks like theres a lot of action on the river on hot summer days but if youre in the river its like when youre driving a car on traffic. Then you understand that theyre going that way on that side and thats the bike lane then. Theres an order to it 60 so despite shipping in tanker traffic everyone sticks to the rules high time for me to take the plunge so 1st i have to plan my strategy how im going to swim down the rhine this is where im starting at the shots about what the in front of the tank to leave museum and then im supposed to stay in this green zone all the way around and this is of course what makes me a bit nervous this is the danger zone where all the shipping. It is. An essential part of river swimming in. A little bit extra sunscreen and now. My. Fish. Is a waterproof bag if you roll it down 7 times otherwise. Lets hope it works. Take your marks get set go into the waters of the rhine. It takes about 25 minutes to swim and float the 3 kilometers downstream you can catch the current. Urban swimming is part of everyday life in switzerland and its a truly democratic activity the strong current is a challenge on the ghetto but an exhilarating one and quickly i meet 3 kindred spirits. Tell me where youre from and is this your 1st time swimming in it is 1st time for all the states california. People around here in. The city shimmering in the heat looks like a film from here and im feeling like one of the rhine maidens from the opera. Boxes. Environmentally friendly an age old tradition and. Several trips down the river i am really grateful for this because im actually frozen stiff. I can hardly speak but its an absolutely wonderful experience and i think ive been bit by this going to have to check off all the others. In the rivers in switzerland and possibly everywhere else on the ground the sea state you know. Its not easy to leave the rhine inviolable behind. Slavery its so easy to go with the flow and to sometimes simply leave the blurb of the daily grind behind us for. Something moved this is something to. Eat eat eat eat eat eat eat eat. Eat eat eat. Eat eat eat eat eat eat. Germanys oldest Music Festival since 876. 00 its been the dream of all wagner fans to visit the legendary hall greenhill. Ive been coming here for 30 years and im still captivated by wagners musical dramas this year my personal highlight was meeting the heroic tenor or helping Terry Oreilly well off fellow Stephen Stephen gold hes one of the most sought after wagner singers in the world even after all these years by reut still remains a magical place for him. What gives me these magical moments is when you discover something especially in wagner singing that you probably could never have discovered anywhere else. Very p. C. This year hes singing a new production of tom hawza. I was a little skeptic sometimes when a new concept was presented to me but i was just really. I have to say within just one day of being here i was totally convinced. Its a multimedia production and very demanding for gold. Toys it was the 1st role he sang and by a point in 2004 his warm voice and commanding presence immediately won over audiences and critics alike my 1st year here of course i was just terrified to be almost completely terrified no matter how much experience you have as a singer the 1st time youre here at this temple. You will have nervousness and things like. The fact that gould performs back marian heroes and by write it all is a small miracle. For years he toured the u. S. In the musical phantom of the opera he was also using incorrect technique until a music teacher suggested he try the more taxing german works as a health and tenor use. Sir can you explain what is ahead in terms of a dramatic verity tenor has to have those beautiful just round holes bays cause sees that they can just hold for other held and tender might need those notes but theyre produced more with steel that cuts through the orchestra and then you put on top of that you have to have insurance. In 2006 good was able to showcase his insurance when the late. His daughter katina cast him as exactly in a new production of the ring cycle. I. Eat. Too many singers today are pushed into their big wagnerian rolls in their twenties if you sing zeke treat at the age of 28 i can guarantee you one thing you wont be singing anything by the time youre 38. 00 its just wrong. The problem today is Everyone Wants their their heroes to be young and vibrant and look like brad pitt in his early days but you have to give the voice time to develop. The tenor was over 40 the 1st time he sang easy meat and by whites he initially underestimated the colossal role but this didnt seem to travel experience bestival director full time. For me wagner was really. One of the great influences of my life when i was doing was it treats you know i think he he saw one day that i looked like i was about to go under he patted my knee and he just started telling me stories stories of all the great tennis and thats when i realized this was his way of telling me every one of the great tenors were not was not a great sea create the 1st time. Its a z. Create isnt and victim. I you work for the grandson of the composer and the grand granddaughter of qatar you know so how was your experience was she wanted me for for the tristan project and i was very adamant that i needed to do it the right way this time. Tristan was the bag number opus 400 ton and we see all the different manifestations of his relationship with ease although materialize on the stage for us. Is some bucknor fans objected to the restrained psychological interpretation of the tragic love between tristan and isolde but this role became Steven Goulds greatest success. This year hes in the spotlight with the new toys a production that opened the 21000 by white festival. I. His favorite scene is when toys it goes to rome to ask forgiveness of the pope in vain. Thats a dream moment to sing and to play because you can you can let all of the heartache all of the pain come out through that. In the current production toys is part of a wild anarchic group that celebrates sexual expression and the mans complete freedom in the arts. It was clear right from the very beginning when we were doing for the staging that i needed to rethink that and try to come up with something less. Angry and completely defeated its a way of looking up myself. As a serious and yet i part of my and our chris group is im im im a cloud. I come out as a cloud. Stephen gold stays curious even after hundreds of performances he keeps finding new ways to interpret partners classic characters it was wonderful meeting him and watching him on stage even more so hopefully theyll be back again next year. And. Either back at the home to the congo Music Festival this year so that it does butcher been a String Orchestra performed use of haydns. Or mass for troubled times with a quiet from austria. This might be the 1st time many of the Young Musicians from south africa visit europe but theyre already very familiar with the continents Classical Music i think its a beautiful because i love the way. European people just. Various there are very serious about the music and the beauty of music as well so i love it African Music is. Its funky has that rhythm where Classical Music is like you have to mean can you are in control of the piece in expressing their emotions even more when youre playing and when youre playing this no piece and i mean youre sad for no reason or whatever. And then you play a small piece and slow testicles so that. Brings out the frustration or whatever for me. Rehearsals for their concert long walk to freedom its program included antiapartheid songs. Many are here today thanks to the mongo home String Program. Founded under the lead of peter guy in 1998 this Initiative Supports young aspiring musicians from historically disadvantaged backgrounds. The orchestra really just if i can say the public face of the program so i always associate the 2 sort of hand in glove as we would say. The future of the program made for the future of the orchestra of course. I am at it was eat. Eat was the long walk to freedom also pay tribute to south africas 1st black president the antiapartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela whose autobiography best the same title the the. The community of im a human but its the basic idea was to tell the story of apartheid being overcome in a musical way. This is a bigger i was thinking about the moving antiapartheid songs and thought that they would work extremely well with parts of haydns mass. Its a myth of a been. That talented youths are full of passion and exuberance no matter the genre they perform. The daughter bella String Orchestra has to europe many times before and they always bring along fun and familiar tunes as well. One of them is past her past her its been a Huge International effort pop success ever since of african star Mary Mackillop stormed the charts with it and 967. Aside from enjoying their travels the Young Musicians also see themselves as cultural ambassadors. To. Different people learning new languages where it was really fun and a bit experimental and a bit hard. I guess i can just say its been a wonderful. Trip or a roller coaster. And at the center of it all Nelson Mandela and broome fontayne some 400 kilometers southwest of johannesburg a statue commemorates his life where the. Apartheid officially ended in south africa a quarter of a century ago 994 yet somewhere inside here to be healed music projects like these can help overcome painful divides. The African National congress or a. N. C. Was founded in the township of mongol poverty and segregation are still an issue. The free says the music on houses the mongo String Program in the wealthiest city center. Now. There are. Over 500 children have lent violin viola cello or double bass here since 998 the Program Receives funding from the state as well as private donations mainly from europe and the u. S. Pisa guy is very proud of the Programs Development and have the students have progressed so many more children now have access to learning a string instrument you know in the bad days of apartheid the government would tell you what you could learn then went and spent you could play and what your interests were so i mean just the fact that we could introduce string instruments to young people whove never had the chance i was obviously a big a big success. And the childrens families pan attendance fear of a 1000 runs some 60 euros a year this includes classes transportation and a borrowing fee for the instruments the rates are set low yet some families still struggle to afford them. How much toby is a form of music on people now shes become a teacher that. The 19 year old is part of the born Free Generation the 1st to be born in the post apartheid era she thinks of africa today is not quite what mandela had worked for. I feel like im in betraying the sometimes when i feel like our friend. But then theres sometimes i get so interested like ok i want to know this i mean if it wasnt for him i wouldnt be here i feel like Nelson Mandela wouldnt be proud of the south africa we are today of crying and. Standing and its too much crying makes it unsafe for children to travel to so peace a guy has board buses for the project sometimes he drives them himself. Transport is a is a big issue for us because unlike a lot of places in the rest of world the transport here there isnt a reliable safe and so inexpensive public transport so i realized early on that if we can provide the transport that a lot of a lot more children will have access to music with and so we either bring the children to us after school hours or we go to the children and their schools and where we where the schools will allow us to teach in the morning then obviously we travel to those places so its so transport is a real key part. Once a week some of the teachers travel north defeated for some 300 kilometers away the idea is to spread the concept to other regions and to lead directly with local schools. Here on the outskirts of free to foot is where cutler. Lives the viola player from the budget a String Orchestra. He lives here with his mother sisters and his niece. They enjoy hearing playing he started learning 4 years ago and practices 4 hours a day to hone his time and. 2 2 2 2 i practice outside on most days because i feel like for me. It doesnt strike me that much as when im practicing inside the house because you have a baby and then shell be playing and sometimes you have relatives then you want to play tennis so its really. Its. Coming from japan from outside and inside of. Course its special but as long as people see this is something. Unusual that i think we know we still live in an abnormal society. I am nothing and then no one said everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated team and passionate about what they do. A us thats whole concept speaks to that sentiment quite well thank you. And that was march 21 on sure see you next time and bye bye. Watch a dream. No you always have your home right with you. Rather than a nightmare. But sure theyre big polluters. Dream that its. 15 minutes long d. W. S. O. S. Europe the european idea is in crisis. If its to have a future it will need champions young champions. Made for activists working to countries that. They are fighting for the dream of a united europe. Do they stand a chance. Can they save the virgin idea. Of my god i need to stand up for European Values and contribute to something important to upset. The future of europe starts september 2nd on d w the flemish burglar the tourist guide for germanys booming capital i love berlin. 15 issues 50 stories and 15 very personal tips on berlins very best features. Book no planet for live coverage of the max series every week on d w. How does thailand taste. Correspondent susan hong and host a leave picks for the various flavors of crazy our food fusion translate i am a challenge for you. Tasty tied to. Start september 1st on d w. Cut. Play. Play. This is the delhi news live from the hong kong on the other weekend as violent antigovernment protests are growing sales of the chinese crackdown as beijing now says on the poles on the border well get the latest from afar spondon life in hong kong also coming up the zimbabwes government strikes back to protesters who are accusing it of corruption and olsen is managing the Economy Police attack demonstrates those 3 times out in defiance of a full stop and. Plus the bundestag it kicks off the