Final days of break!

Currently listening: Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D.  In preparation for the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow's concert next Sunday :)  (also playing Shostakovich 5!)

Quick Update:

Wednesday: Went to Carnuntum, an old Roman City an hour outside of Vienna, with Ross and his language buddy, Esther.  Language buddies are students from universities in Vienna who want to work on their english who are matched up with one of us IES'ers, who want to work on their german.  They are great.  I can't wait to meet mine!

So, Carnuntum!  We got to see these old gravestones from the first century that were uncovered in this city!  SUPER OLD!  They also rebuilt a small percentage of the city, including a small house and a Mansion, and a few other buildings.  They are still digging too!  One of the more interesting things that they recreated was the heating system, which was similar to a wood stove.  It was actually up and running in the mansion, and as we went deeper into the building, it got warmer!

 

This is the last room, and it was hot!  Ross is standing in front of this fancy bathtub.  It would have been a warm bath!

Thursday: Mostly practicing.  I cooked an awesome dinner of chicken pot pie soup.  It was actually pretty amazing!

 Friday:  Again, lots of practicing!  Ross and I also attempted to venture to the Jewish district.  It was a fail.  We went to the old parts of it to go to 2 museums, but one was closed for renovation until October and the other closed at 2 and it was 3.  boo.  Then we went to the 2nd district, which is the current jewish area.  We found a kosher butcher.  But that was about all we found.  Next time we need more specific directions for that trek. haha.  But, we got some exercise, so not all was lost!

Saturday:  All practicing :)  I had my first lesson with Manuel Huber, who plays principal and 3rd horn in Vienna Philharmonic.  He's only 23 years old.  almost.  :)  He's completely professional and I really like him.  His english isn't the best, so I'm learning a lot of german musical terms!  And he's learning a lot of english! haha.  He had a lot of trouble with the word slur.  He kept attempting it and saying slow? sloor?  Bindabung!  Yea, it's slur. lol.  It's actually really fun!  He's not afraid to jump around and make funny sounds to make sure I understand him. lol.  He had a lot of good thoughts on my playing, so I think this will work out well.  My Horn Blog has more specifics on the lesson!

I made sure to ask him if there were any rehearsals that I could go to.  He said sure, how about monday.  :D  So, tomorrow at 10 am I'll be watching the Vienna Philharmonic rehearse Bruckner 4!  Life is good.

He also said that he'd look into loaning me a Wiener horn so that I could learn it!  yayyy!!!!!!  So excited!!!!!  This is going to be good. 

I'm feeling a lot more at home now, just after having one lesson.  Starting classes and playing in ensembles is going to be so refreshing.  It's been too long!  School tomorrow!!!!!

Tonight I just got back from a concert at the Musikverein that Ross was really excited about, and now I know why!  These 5 euro standing room tickets were his birthday present from me. lol.  We saw Phillipe Jaroussky, a countertenor and the Concerto Köln!  He was absolutely incredible.  You would never expect the sound that he produces to EVER come out of him, but it does and it's fantastic.  It's like a woman singing, but with this manly tenor sound that makes it almost obvious that it's not a woman, it's pretty much indescribable.  Also, the Orchestra itself is a very small early music ensemble.  Ross informed me that they were using period bows, however the actual string instruments seemed modern, except the lute and harpsichord of course!  They also had no conductor, which was very cool and it worked very well for them.  Phillipe did 3 encores, and he ended the last one with the entire group singing the very last line instead of himself!  It was quite the way to end the concert.  There was also a moment in the first encore that was incredibly striking to me.  The very opening was just Phillipe holding a long note with no vibrato, he slowly crescendo-ed, and then added vibrato and continued on, I can barely describe what it sounded like, it was incredible.  It was in this one note that I realized how amazing it is to be a part of a culture that is completely awed by one single note.  We appreciate that one note so much that we talk about it as an amazing feat (it was).  I'm just so grateful to be part of a group of people who appreciate the little things and pay attention to those kind of details.  It's pretty amazing if you ask me.  :)

And that's what I leave you with tonight.