Feelin' it..

Once again, I had a ridiculously busy week and was unable to or just too tired to make a post.  UNTIL NOW!

I have just completed my midterm for Music History (401).  At 7:30 in the morning when I began my "day-of-test study rush", I was definitely freaking out.  Then I went to a rehearsal of the Vienna Philharmonic playing Bruckner 7.  That calmed my nerves quite a bit because it just made me so incredibly happy.  :)  I then had 2 1/2 hours to study (which I used all of) and sat down and finished the test in under 45 minutes.  It was the easiest test I've taken since.. probably middle school.  Nailed it.  Now all I have to finish are my three page long papers for my philosophy midterm.  almost done!!!!!

So, back to the life in Vienna.  There is so much to be said for this past week and weekend.

On wednesday, we had a dress rehearsal for performance workshop, and then immediately after playing, I made a run for the Staatsoper to see my very first opera in Vienna! (finally!)  It was Die Zauberflöte (Magic Flute) and it was wonderful.  Papageno was incredible, great singing and great acting.  Sarastro had the most amazing voice and Pamina was phenomenal as well.  The Queen of the Night was not the best I had heard, but everything else was wonderful.  It was a great experience.  I was in the standing room, so there are these railings that you can lean on, but unfortunately for me, the man in front of me was leaning back and the girls behind me were leaning forward, so I was kind of forced to just stand.  The translators are also on the railings, so you have to look down to read and then up to watch.. it's a little confusing, but I'm glad I had the English to read!  I had never actually seen Magic Flute, I've only played in the pit at IU!  So, it was really nice to be able to see a production live.

The Cast :) Yes, that is a giraffe in the corner.

Thursday, we had our first IES concert of the semester, which was lovely.  I only played one piece, but it was very fun.  I led the ensemble of 5 horns and 3 trombones in Wagner's Pilgerchor from Tannhäuser.

 

Then immediately after playing, Blair (on my left) and I ran to the Musikverein to see Daniel Barenboim give a recital of all Schubert.  I believe he played Schubert's 4 impromptus (not sure which one maybe Op.142) and Schubert Sonata.  It may have been the most amazing concert I've seen in Vienna, or maybe ever?  I can't even describe how it feels to see someone who I've watched on youtube and videos and adored from afar, live on stage, in the same hall as me.  The entire time I couldn't get over the fact that Daniel Barenboim was right in front of me.  It was just as I had imagined and then some.  It was the smoothest playing I had ever heard from a piano.  He plays everything so evenly, nothing pops out of the texture that isn't meant to.  His balancing of all the voices was perfect, it's no wonder his orchestras are always perfectly balanced!  He obviously pays very close attention to that.  It was also just the most music making I've heard from anyone in a long time.  His phrases never ended (in a good way), they just kept flowing and certain notes were accented, but the line kept going and remained interesting and never bumpy or flat.  I was just amazed.  I was also kind of bummed that he didn't do an encore!!  He walked back onstage 5 times and still no encore. :(  But it was a wonderful night.  

Friday=study.

Saturday was my german midterm, which kicked me in the butt. hard.  So, we'll see how that turned out.  But then my day was revived by Wolfgang!  Wolfgang invited me to sit in the pit of the Staatsoper for Strauß's Salome!  It was amazing!!!!!  This is one of those experiences that you can't have anywhere else!!!  

This was my view :) I sat behind the harps, who sat behind the horns.  It was gloriously loud.  Ross and Ryan actually said the orchestra was a little overpowering for the singers, but I thought it was marvelous.  hahaha.  The horns sounded amazing.  Wolfgang played 3rd, as usual, and he was great.  The low horn were super solid too.  The first horn cracked a few high notes, but not a whole lot.  They play almost the entire 2 hours!!!  It was insane!!!  They also have a really strange set up in the pit.  the order of horns was (L-R) 4,3,2,1,5,6.  It was odd, but I guess it works!

So, it's been quite an amazing week.  I need to get a LOT of practice in this week because I'm going to Switzerland this weekend!!!! :D  

Maybe it seems like a really obvious realization, but I really like living in Vienna.  I can't get enough of what I'm getting to do here!  Sure, I don't mind taking my IU classes again and I can't wait to play in IU ensembles and see see my studio and all my friends again.  But on the other hand, I really don't want to leave behind these opportunities.  I want to continue sitting in the pit for operas!  I want to stand in the standing room for concerts of orchestras from a different country every night and see amazingly famous conductors and soloists playing incredible music!!!!!  I don't want to leave this ever.  I want to have lessons in the Staatsoper and walk out into a city filled with incredible musical opportunities!  I never want to give up the feeling I have here.. it's just a combination of gratitude towards my parents and my life for getting this opportuniy, motivation to work way harder than ever before so that I can make it, gratification that I'm getting as much out of this as I can, and just pure utter joy.  Truly indescribable though.. I know now that it's going to be hard to leave Vienna.

Halfway mark.

Wow!  I hadn't realized how long it's been since I posted last, but I was incredibly busy this entire week and weekend!

I think I forgot to write about one of the concerts.. but i don't remember.  Here's the latest:

Mahler Symphony No. 7 with the Wiener Symphoniker.  This was a very impressive concert.   I had only heard them on mendelssohn and mozart, so I wasn't sure what would happen, but it was solid!  The horns were powerful and had a great blended sound.  The strings were great, the woodwinds were solid.  The trombones had a nice powerful sound, the tenor horn was good.  He was a little sharp on some of the solo notes, but he really got the character down.  Trumpets were the most powerful of the brass, they reeeeally cut through everything else and were riding the orchestra.  They are still not the sound that I'm used to in the states b/c they're rotary, but man were they strong.  They got tired for the high notes in the last movement, but they squeezed them out.  The one big thing that I was dying for the entire time was SUSTAIN.  It was just not there.  Longer phraaaaaases. keep goingggggggg!!!  pleeeeeeease!!  But it was a very fun concert to attend!

I was supposed to see Die Zauberflöte the next night, but I got a migrane and decided it was a horrible idea to try to stand for 3 1/2 hours for an opera. haha.  So, I'll go on wednesday and tell you about it then!!

I went to Salzburg this weekend!  The highlights include:
-climbing up to the Fortress for the absolutely gorgeous view of the city

-eating orginal Mozart Kugeln

-going to my first Brauerei (brewery)

-a quick stop at Mozart's wohnhaus (apartment), and a longer stop at his Geburtshaus (birthhouse).  I actually stood in the room that Mozart was born in (below)! and I wasn't supposed to take any of the picture I took!  I only got yelled at once though :)

This museum was really cool.  There was so much information and interesting things there.  They had a bunch of mini sets to his operas, scores from his music, letters to and from his family members (One of the letters was really adorable and you could tell how much he really cared for his wife, Constanze.  It was very sweet.), the actual piano that he composed Magic flute, and the Requiem on, and lots of other interesting things from the time.

-seeing many amazingly beautiful baroque cathedrals (This one is St. Peter's cathedral) (i hope.. there were a lot)

-hearing Mozart's C-minor Mass (in that cathedral ^^)
-seeing several places from the Sound of Music movie including the gazebo where the song "16 going on 17" is sung, the fountain where they sing "Do, a Deer", and the cemetery where they hide at the end.

As we get back into Vienna, I prepare for a week of excitement!  This is what's on my plate:

STUDY.  german midterm saturday, music history midterm and philosophy midterm paper due next monday.
PRACTICE. lesson #4 on wednesday, dress rehearsal for our first IES concert, Die Zauberflöte at the Staatsoper, thursday is our IES concert (leading the Tannhäuser for 5 horns, 3 tbones), Daniel Barenboim at the Musikverein, and friday is a Palatschinken party!!!! 

As I continue to plan things like crazy, attempt getting all my homework done, and do everything I want to do, the weeks  begin to go by quicker than ever.  It was just yesterday that it was "already friday".. nope that was 2 weeks ago that I felt like that.  Now it's already 2 weeks later!!  If you understand that thought process, you understand how crazy it feels.  I've planned out most of the last 2 months.  Today is officially the halfway point.  Aug. 17th we arrived. Today is Oct. 17th.  We leave Dec. 17th.  Not to give anything away, but this is the temporary plan for the weekends that are left:

 

Vienna (for midterms), Salome backstage behind the horns!!!!

midterm week, because I'm done after monday! Vienna phil rehearsals monday/tuesday!!! Poland or Rome?

Vienna

Italy- Lesson with Luca!

Vienna- parents arrive on sunday!!!

Ski trip

Vienna- Solo Recital for anyone who wants to perform (aka me!)

Berlin- Lesson with Sarah Willis!!

Chicago!

 

Lots to do.. not much time to do it in...  I'm ready!!!

Feels like home :)

This evening I returned from my first excursion outside of Vienna (other than Carnuntum).  I still haven't left Austria, but that will happen in time. 

The trip was full of good company, long bus rides, and open air museum, roasted chestnuts, lots of stairs, gorgeous views, a wine festival, a dog named Jamie, lots of vineyards, lederhosen and dirndls, and some really good food.  I actually ate a Berliner.  I had to get it just because of the quote "Ich bin ein Berliner." from a speech by JFK underlining the US's support for West Germany.  Unfortunately, it turns out that the whole thing was a misconception and it is in fact gramatically correct.  He did not say that he was a jelly donut.

So, there actually isn't that many interesting things to say about this weekend and my camera died halfway through the second day.  However, as we drove through the streets of Vienna on the return trip, recognizing the streets and the stores, and the neighborhoods, it became very real to me that this feels like home.  We stepped out of the bus, I was bundled up in my winter jacket, scarf, and new glittens, and it was cold.  It made me feel more at home now that the weather is recognizable.  Cold weather really is something that I enjoy.  Being all bundled up and cozy, until it gets so cold that your face is slightly burning, is a really nice comfort and reminder of home.  As much as I miss Chicago and Indiana, Vienna is really becoming my home now.  I think this excursion has really helped me realize how much I appreciate the opportunities that I'm a part of here. 

I can't wait for some more weekend trips.. if only for the feeling I get upon return to Vienna :)

Inspiration

Vienna is wonderful :)

Thursday, my german class took a fieldtrip to the National Library here in Vienna.  As my roommate and I were walking there, we passed this man with dark curly hair.  We exchanged glances and I kept walking.  Then we heard, "Excuse me, are you from France?"  I turned around and it was this man, very obviously a frenchman from his accent.  "No, I said, we're from America.  Massachusetts and Chicago."  He told us we looked very French, trés chic!  We said merci :)  A frenchman thought we were french. cool!  The library was very cool too.  haha.  

This is the library.  It's amazing.  They gave us a  tour.  auf Deutsch.  I realized (once again) that need a bigger german vocabulary...

I was also fortunate enough on Thursday to hear the Mozart Orchestra with Claudio Abbado conducting!  They played the overture to "Italian in Algiers", Mozart Haffner Symphony, and Mendelssohn's 4th, "the Italian Symphony".  This was all followed by an encore of the overture to The Barber of Seville.  This was a magnificent concert.  Claudio Abbado is unbelievable and quite gratifying to watch.  He just does it right.  The orchestra was quite good and I think this may have been the most interesting performance of a Mozart symphony that I've ever heard.  It was far more exciting that any other orchestra I've seen perform Mozart (and I've seen the CSO do it!).  They really kept the energy up in all the pieces.  The horns sounded really nice, however this concert was not as telling as, say, Shostakovich's 5th Symphony perhaps.  :)  They did a nice job of balancing together and not overpowering the strings.  None of these pieces really have big horn parts.  The encore had the biggest horn solo of the night, which was quite good, but there was really no loud playing in the concert.  There's a lot to be said about the versatility of a horn section, but since all of this music was in the same general, light, blended style, or soft pretty solos, I can't critique all types of their playing.  The woodwinds also sounded really nice, but I think again, I liked the strings the most.  

Friday was dedicated to a Deutsche Prüfung (german test), a lecture on the history of the Vienna Phil, a Mozart Trio rehearsal, and my first lesson with Wolfgang Vladar.  The lecture, given by Bill McElheney, retired 2nd trombonist of the Vienna Phil, was incredibly interesting and informative.  I really enjoyed it and I think I learned a lot.  The trio rehearsal was just a run through, but I hit 2 out of 3 of the high C's, so I felt accomplished.  :D  And more on my lesson will soon be in my horn blog!  

On saturday night, I went to another concert, this time it was Brahms "Nänie", a piece by Szymanovsky (sp?), Ives "The Unanswered Question, and Schubert's Unfinished Symphony.  The Brahms was really beautiful, of course, and the choir was quite good.  It was difficult to decide whether I liked the orchestra or maybe more the conductor, from the first couple pieces because they were so modern (other than the Brahms).  They played them well, but it was just difficult to tell what it was supposed to sound like at times, so instead of trying to think about the quality of orchestra, you move past that and assume they are doing it the way it's meant, and instead think of the music only.  Think about what the composer is trying to say with the piece.  It was a pretty solemn concert, as it was all centered around death.  The Schubert was really nice.  I always forget how much I love that piece.  I think it was a very good piece to end with, as it was much more uplifting.  I really liked the strings, again, and the orchestra as a whole had a nice blend.  The horns (yes! I'm going to talk about them again!) were very good.  I really liked their sound and the phrasing and the solos were beautiful.  It may have been because of the overhang in the standing room, but I thought there was some balance problems when the orchestra played the louder sections of the Schubert.  It didn't sound quite as regal and grand as I was listening for.  It also might be a european concept also to have less sustain in sections like that.  It sounded as if the horns were backing away from the long notes in the louder sections, which I wouldn't chose to do.  Also, specifically, the clarinet solos were gorgeous.  I really enjoyed this concert.  

I forgot to mention a little occurrence from last week, on tuesday.  I was walking through the Ubahn station with a new friend living in Vienna, and out of the U1 and U2 area, appears two Polizei officers rigorously restraining a drunk (?) man with absolutely NO pants.  Karlsplatz seems to be a bit of a sketchy station.  It was a bit of a damaging experience.  lol.  Oh, the crazy things that happen in Vienna!  (Although I'm sure this would happen in NY or Chicago too..)

Something I noticed since I've been going to practice at 6 and coming back at 7:30 or 8, is when I walk back there is repeatedly a man sitting alone in the park with a beer.  Let me remind you again, I walk back at 7:30 usually!  He shows up every morning with a beer around 7 in the morning! lol! Vienna! 

Oh Vienna.  You seem to have a way of making me appreciate life more than ever.  So many things in my life have changed while being here or because I came here and I've realized so much about myself and life.  I feel so much more aware and prepared for everything that may come my way. I've had times when I get an email from Jeff and suddenly tears well up in my eyes and I miss everyone at home so much.  Then I have a lesson with a horn player in the Vienna Philharmonic and he spends two hours teaching and talking to me.  Being inspired is a really special emotion that is truly like nothing else.  I walked out into the city after my last lesson and I couldn't stop smiling, I had this overwhelming desire to lay in the grass and look at the stars and just enjoy the state of utter inspiration.  I felt empowered to succeed at anything.  Oh Vienna...