Music Capitals of the World 2014 PLU: Vivacious Vienna

For the two days we have been in Vienna, so much has already happened. The first day here, we went to Stephensplatz, walked up from the U-Bahn station and was immediately greeted by St. Stephens Cathedral looming over us. A few of us decided to start the trip by claiming the 343 stairs to the top of the tower. The staircase wound around and around for what seemed like forever with only glimpses of the outside view. Finally we emerged at the top and looked out over the whole city. It was a spectacular 360 degree view of Vienna. Next we went down to the actual cathedral and looked around the inside. The craftsmanship of the cathedral is amazing, especially considering that it was started in the 13th century. Everyone then went on a tour of the catacombs underneath the cathedral, these weren't just empty tombs or rooms with headstones, these were legit crypt. Rooms piled with the bones of plague victims and mass graves. Creepy stuff!!!!! We then split up to find food, which for my group consisted of delicious hot drinks and baked goods, nothin' better than that! Annalise, Alexandra, and I ended up going back to the church later to look around some more without large crowds of people, and a church service was just starting. We wanted to wait to see if the organ would play, but after just hearing bells for a while we decided to leave. As we turned around and took two steps, the organ came in with a loud fortissimo chord, holy cow!!! We turned right around and listened as the organ music filled the cathedral with is haunting sound. It was an beautiful way to end our first day in Vienna.

The next way was going to be busy and we would be hearing the Vienna Radio Orchestra that night. This was the concert I was most looking forward too. In the morning though, we went to the Musikhaus, a museum all about music! We had such a great time exploring all the interesting exhibits. From the room that simulated the sound that babies hear in the room, to the composer exhibits featuring Haydn's parrot, and Beethoven's death mask among other things. Afterward we went on a tour of Vienna with our wonderful guide named Herbert and braved the wind and cold to learn about the rich history of the town. He also led us through the Hoffburg Palace where the Hapsburg use to live. I thought it was interesting to learn about Empress Elisabeth (Sissi) married to Emperor Franz Josef. She was a country girl who entered this new "dream" lifestyle but ended up not liking the city and never being happy. She was absolutely beautiful and extremely popular, kind of the Princess Kate of her time. She even was a very fit person who loved to exercise, which was not common for the time. The Hapsburg's were such and interesting family!

Now finally to talk about the concert. Everyone here can attest to how ecstatic I was for this concert. Tzimon Barto, the giant body builder piano player how speaks 5 different languages, reads Ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Latin, and who writes poetry was going to be playing the Prokofiev Piano Concerto no. 3. I was ready to see the piano break under his weight, hahaha!! Brahms 4th symphony was also going to played which is another one of my favorite symphonies, Brahms can do no wrong! In addition, a new composer Erin Gee was going to be performing her Mouthpiece XX composition. Not the most excited for that, but I just had to get through it to see my favorites. Well the concert started off with Mouthpiece XX and it was sure something....her brother performed with her as a mime with a white suit and a white face, there was a very odd video being played with silhouettes of her and her brother with different furniture appearing behind them, and she made lots of clicking and hooting noises among other sounds. Yeah...it was different and kinda scary. Anyways Prokofiev came up next and Tzimon Barto lumbered out, he is seriously huge!!! The piece was absolutely spectacular! He has such great dynamic contrast with his pounding fortes, delicate pianos, and such and expressive touch for each different mood of the piece. I sat on the edge of my seat the whole time, completely enraptured by the performance. And no, the piano didn't break, but it sure shook and his hands blurred on many parts where he was playing with such rapid fluid motion. There were at least 5 call backs after the piece and Barto finally comes back out, says "Chopin" and sits down at the piano. With the first chord he played I knew exactly what piece he was playing, the Chopin Nocturne in C# major. It is one of my favorite Chopin nocturnes and I even played it in high school. I will say I definitely teared up a bit during the performance, I had never heard it played so delicately and with so much expression. I could have clapped forever after the piece was finished!! After intermission, Brahms was up next. The piece was played beautifully and then2nd movement was easily my favorite. The horn player absolutely nailed the introduction with passion! That horn call at the beginning of the 2nd movement is genius, Brahms is a master. The layering that Brahms uses in his music coupled with the way he always changes where the feeling of the beat lies is astounding. I love the way I can hear all the techniques that he employs with his piano Intermezzos in large scale form with his symphonies. What an amazing concert and Boris Gudenov the next night. More Russian drama coming soon!