i just discovered what i think is the ultimate summer experience swimming down the mighty rhine but the switzerland certainly not understood. that. summer slump not on arts $21.00 while everyone is out we've set out to and our reporters have made so many fascinating discoveries along the way we've made exciting be able. to rate talents. and great heroes. all the way from buy

a boy to south africa. our grands tour of arts on water and lands. and this is a 1st my 1st time swimming in a major waterway in the middle of the city i can't wait but 1st i want to find out a bit more about this urban reverse swimming trend. the rhine in basel or father rhine as it's often called in german is the specially popular for urban swimming from it's source high up in the swiss alps it flows through half of europe river swimming has a long tradition here but being more used to pools and lakes it's quite an adventure for me in this sweltering summer people are talking about the concept of urban swimming in fifty's all over europe and as a former swimmer myself of course i'm fascinated by this concept because i'm. never

really done it. sure is here everyone seems to be doing it locals wait fearlessly into the chilly 20 degree current even with kids in tow they kind of swim float downstream to emerge from the water as if we born easy right and you shouldn't underestimate it a river isn't like a lake. and the current can be pretty scary especially the. how do you feel before your 1st run swim good excited yeah a little. i decided to take a quick detour to basel swiss architecture museum to see swim city the 1st ever exhibition on urban swimming. as you can see basel has 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 until they ask to be curator

abbott 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 it's a very interesting way to be in the city but actually to understand the city is part of a larger environment but it is very dominated by of course in geography. so urban swimming is about more than just cooling off and having fun in the current climate of the city selloffs in speculative investments it's actually a political act. it is it is really about reclaiming the city as your as your home as your environment because we're living in 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 black watch 100 movie shows me examples from switzerland and elsewhere that prove urban swimming is an international trend and where people are hopping into the water already they're 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 she has a 2025 the cleaned up water alongside the historic museum island will be freely accessible a swimmer's dream but 1st some tips for basel remember him from the house and sushi scene from the outside it looks like there's a lot of action on the river on hot summer days but if you're in the river it's like when you drive in the current traffic. then you understand that they're going that way on that side and that's the bike lane then. there's 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 i'm going to swim down the run is where i'm starting at the shots with the in front of the tank to leave museum and then i'm 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 traffic is. an essential part of river swimming in basel. a little bit of extra sunscreen and now i'm going to pack my. fish but because fish is a waterproof bag if you roll it down 7 times otherwise the water gets in let's hope it works the but. 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 rather than the. urban swimming is part of everyday life in switzerland and it's a truly democratic activity the strong current is a challenge on the ghetto but an exhilarating one and quickly i meet 3 kindred spirits. but tell me where you're from and is this your 1st time swimming in the right it is time for all the states. people around here in. the city shimmering in the heat looks like a film from here and i'm feeling like one of the rhine maidens from the opera.

swimming takes a lot of boxes. environmentally friendly an age old tradition and just plain cool. several trips down the river i am really grateful for the sunshine because i'm actually frozen stiff. i can hardly speak but it's an absolutely wonderful experience and i think i've been bitten by this bug i'm going to have to check off all the other swimmable rivers in switzerland and possibly everywhere else on the globe. it's not easy to leave the rhine in basel behind. me where it's so easy to go with the flow and to sometimes simply leave the blur of the daily grind behind.

germany's oldest music festival since $876.00 it's been the dream of all wagner fans to visit the legendary hall greenhill. i've been coming here for 30 years and i'm still captivated by wagner's musical dramas this year my personal highlight was meeting the heroic tenor or helping tenor. the low fellow stephen stephen colbert he's one of the most sought after wagner singers in the world even after all these years by roy still remains a magical place for him. but gives me these magical moments when you discover something especially in wagner singing that you probably could never have

discovered anywhere else. he. this year he's singing a new production of. the. 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. it's a multimedia production and very demanding for gold. toys it was the 1st role he sang and by a voice 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 honest completely terrified no matter how much experience you have as a singer the 1st time you're 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 that are for years he toured the us 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 yes. 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 helden tenor might need those notes but they're produced more with steel that cuts through the orchestra and then you put on top of that you have to have insurance. in 2006 gould was able to showcase his insurance when the late kong wagner his daughter katarina cast him as exactly in

a new production of the ring cycle the. movie . eat. too many singers today are pushed into their big wagnerian rolls in their twenty's if you sing zeke street at the age of 28 i can guarantee you one thing you won't be singing anything by the time you're 38. it's 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 and seek to meet him by whites initially underestimated the colossal role but this didn't seem to trouble experienced bestival director full combat gear. for me wagner was so.

really. one of the great influencers of my life when i was doing was it treats you know i think you saw one day that i looked like i was about to go under he patted my knee and he just he started telling me stories stories of all the great tennis and that's when i realized this was his way of telling me every one of the great tenors were not was not a great siegfried the 1st time. it's a zig treat isn't and victor long. i. work for the grandson of the composer and the grand granddaughter recovery 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. to restore is the magnum opus 410 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 gould's greatest success. this year he's in the spotlight with the new toys a production that opened the 21000 by white festival. i. his favorite scene is when tom who is it goes to rome to ask forgiveness of the pope in vain. that's

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 tunnel as it is part of a wild anarchic group that celebrates sexual expression and demands 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 it's a way of looking at myself. as serious and yet i part of my own are cursed group is i'm i'm i'm a cloud. i come out as a cloud. stephen

gold stays curious even after hundreds of performances he keeps finding new ways to interpret classic characters it was wonderful meeting him and watching him on stage even more so hopefully he'll be back again next year. either back at the home to the high go music festival this is south africa's butcher been a string orchestra performed use of haydn's. or mass for troubled times was acquired from austria.

this might be the 1st time many of the young musicians from south africa visit europe but they're already very familiar with the continent's classical music i think it's a new pupil because i love the way. european people just. i think this he was very very serious about the music and the beauty of music as well so i love it african music is. like it's find it has that rhythm whereas classical music is like you have to me you are in control of the piece in expressing their emotions even more when you're playing and when you're playing this no piece and let me think you're sad for no reason or whatever. and then you play

a small piece and slope is called music so that. brings out the frustration or whatever for me. rehearsal for their concerts long walk to freedom it's program included anti-apartheid songs. many are here today thanks to the mongo whom 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. for the future of the program made for the future of the orchestra of course. the

edit the eat eat. the eat the. long walk to freedom also pay tribute to south africa's 1st black president the anti-apartheid revolutionary nelson mandela whose autobiography best the same title . the. economy of the weimar him but because of the basic idea was to tell the story of apartheid being of a calm in a musical way. this is a bigger i was thinking about the moving anti-apartheid songs and thought that they would work extremely well with parts of haydn's mass. it's a myth of a bin. the talented youths are full of passion and exuberance no matter the genre they perform

. the bush or bill a string orchestra has to europe many times before and they always bring along fun and familiar tunes as well. one of them is past. it's been a huge international effort pop success ever since of african star marian mccabe stormed the charts with it in 967. aside from enjoying their travels the young musicians also see themselves as cultural ambassadors. different people learn a new language where it was really fun and a bit experimental and a bit hard so i guess i can just say it's been a wonderful trip or rollercoaster. and at the center of it all nelson mandela and broome from tyneside 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 else have yet 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 he music on houses the mungo string program in the wealthiest city center. ok. c 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 program's 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 and 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 who've never had the chance that was obviously a big big success. came the children's families pan attendance fear of a 1000 runs some 60 euros a year and this includes classes transportation and a borrowing fee for the instruments the rates are set low yet some families still struggle to afford them come home we're told he is a former music on people now she's 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 i'm in between the sometimes when i feel like are. but they and sometimes i get so interested like ok i want to know this i mean if it wasn't for him i wouldn't be here i feel like nelson mandela wouldn't be proud of the south africa we are today crying and. standing and it's too much crying makes it unsafe for children to travel to peace a guy has bought buses for the project sometimes he drives them himself. transport is a big issue for us because unlike a lot of places in the rest the world the transport here there isn't 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 to reach 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 it's so transport is a real key part. once a week some of the teaches travel north defeated for some 300 kilometers away the idea is to spread the concept to other regions and what directly with local schools . here on the outskirts of free to foot is where. lives the viola player from the

budget a string orchestra. he lives here with his mother sisters and his niece. and . they enjoy hearing. he started learning 4 years ago and practices 4 hours a day to hone his target. 2 2 2 of prejudice outside on most days i feel like for me. it doesn't strike me that much as when i'm protesting inside the house because you have a baby and then should be playing and sometimes you have relatives then you want to practice so it's me. and it's. coming from egypt into the inside and inside of. course it's special

but as long as people see this is something. unusual but i think we know we still live in an abnormal society played. nelson mandela once said everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they did. play this whole concert speaks to that sentiment quite well. the 1st. and that was march 21 on tour see you next time and bye bye.

want to do with old cardboard boxes. of french artist and build yourself a city. living costs and shows us how. his own project in love is an ephemeral greatest 5. year old next on the double. takes the bar

suburban bluntschli. let me get some special u.n. . for. 60 minutes on w. s o s euro. crisis. it still has a sin church to champion young champions. to vist from certain countries. they are some of the trip.

to. st louis. missouri starts september 2nd d w. o o. small come on the water in the alps so we will find out more about that later on in the show hello and welcome to another exciting edition of euro max this time full of festivals i.