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...
No comments:
Post a Comment