Art and Russian Drama in Vienna

On Wednesday we began our day by going out to Zentralfriedhoff Cemetary to see some composers graves and pay our respects. I especially loved seeing the graves of Brahms, Beethoven, and Mozart (though Mozart's is more of a memorial). We also explored a church nearby with a gorgeous sapphire blue dome ceiling. While walking though the cemetery I even noticed a headstone of someone who was born in Eger and died in Vienna. I have seen my last name around so much here! Afterwards we decided to head to the Albertina, a large palace in the city with art exhibits. I was ecstatic to be able to see paintings by impressionists such as one of Monet's Water Lillies, three pointillism paintings by Paul Signac, a portrait by Renior, and one of Degas' Ballerina paintings. I could have stood in that room for hours looking at the brush strokes, colors, and impression of those paintings. I have always dreamed of seeing paintings by those masters, I love the Impressionists! That evening we went to see the Russian opera Boris Gudenov by Modest Mussorgsky. The opera hall wall beautiful will all the boxes, red plush seats, and even personal subtitles for each seat with an English option. I loved the dark staging of the opera and the music was fantastic. The instrumental parts were perfectly dark and Russian and full of angst. The string basses reverberated though the entire hall and one of the best parts was the bass trombone signaling the death of Boris. The vocals were also spectacular, the voice of Boris was a rumbling powerhouse bass and we all loved the tenor voice of the holy fool. It was a fantastic show, even though there was no intermission. Well for a bit of a funny story to end the blog, afterwards most of us stopped by the doner kebap stand by the hostel for a late night dinner. I was crossing the street with my doner in hand when my left leg gave out and I fell in the street. However, I ended up throwing my doner, kicking off my right show, tucked and rolled, and ended up without a scratch. What could've ended in a face plant on the concrete instead ended with a pretty epic save. Though I must have looked hilarious with my skirt, high heels, fluffy coat, and backpack rolling around in the middle of the street! I just have to say I was upset I didn't get to finish my doner, but oh well!      

I love Brahms!!!

Antibus by Signac

Water Lillies by Monet

At the opera!