Vienna, Austria
More familiar than its art and architecture, the music of Vienna proffers an amazing variety of classical, romantic and avant-garde traditions extending from Mozart and Haydn to Beethoven and Schubert, as well as to Brahms, Mahler and Schoenberg. Our guests shared a great interest in music, and we attended quite a number of performances in both Vienna and in Prague.
The era of Mozart and Haydn is characterized by the enlightened reforms of Joseph II, who reduced the pomp of court, charged monasteries with education and hospital services, fostered German speaking musical theater, and opened both museums and parks to the public. From the end of the 18th century the aristocracy from all over Europe came to enjoy the pleasures of winter in Vienna with its vast cultural offerings including numerous public concerts and so-called academies for the composer’s benefit. It is no wonder that the telephone book of Vienna is still today packed with names of Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Russian and Balkan origin.
Our morning tour in rather inclement weather took us west of the city center to the enormous summer castle called Schoenbrunn, where the Empress Maria Theresa enjoyed some repose from rearing 16 children and ruling the vast Habsburg Empire. The famous Marionette Theater delighted us with a puppet ballet to Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music), which was followed by a delicious apfelstrudel tasting and demonstration. The grand park leading out to the Gloriette is still open to the public free of charge, as it was over 200 years ago. Schoenbrunn is the most frequented tourist site in Austria, and it was still peak season in September.
Beethoven and Schubert crossed the threshold into the Romantic era with their music of great emotion and powerful sentiments, and the magnificence of lengthy symphonies as well as the intimacy of solo lieder. In this age of the Congress of Vienna (1814-15) and Biedermeier fashion, many new dances became the rage, and the waltz, the polka, the menuet and the galopp were popular among all classes.
A large group of us enjoyed the dances and frivolous love affairs representing decadent Viennese society in Franz Lehar’s operetta The Merry Widow at the People’s Opera (Volksoper), while another group chose highlights of the Classical Era at the Hofburg. Lovers of opera were reminded anew of the excellence of the Vienna State Opera in performances of Wagner’s Flying Dutchman and Verdi’s powerful opera of love, revenge and hatred, Simon Boccanegra.
Fin de siècle art and architecture are exemplified in Vienna by the Secession Exhibition Hall from 1897 with its extraordinary ball of golden laurel leaves, and the Beethoven frieze by Klimt from 1902. The motto on the building gave thought for reflection: Der Zeit ihre Kunst, der Kunst ihre Freiheit, loosely translated: "For the times, its art; for art, its freedom."
In the shadow of this building a group of us visited the famous Naschmarkt, including a seemingly infinite variety of stands and shops, from a farmer’s market to exotic delicatessens. With Sharon Grainger’s advice, luncheon delicacies were purchased and shared on hastily grouped tables. In the rain it wasn’t an ideal day for the adjacent flea market, however. Instead one could appreciate the views of other Secessionist/art nouveau buildings such as the Majolica House and the Karlsplatz Metro by Otto Wagner, as well as the Orchid House of the Hofburg.
Some expedition members chose to bask in the glories of an exceptional exhibition entitled “Tutanchamun and the Pharaohs” at the Ethnological Museum of the Hofburg. With a golden mask, alabaster urns, and other choice artifacts never shown before outside Egypt, the exhibition proved to be an addition to the knowledge of even the most sagacious Egypt lovers.
Even today the cultural glories of Vienna of the Habsburgs attract visitors from all over the globe, and we, too, basked in the stimuli of the day with vivacious conversation over post-performance drinks aboard the River Cloud.
More familiar than its art and architecture, the music of Vienna proffers an amazing variety of classical, romantic and avant-garde traditions extending from Mozart and Haydn to Beethoven and Schubert, as well as to Brahms, Mahler and Schoenberg. Our guests shared a great interest in music, and we attended quite a number of performances in both Vienna and in Prague.
The era of Mozart and Haydn is characterized by the enlightened reforms of Joseph II, who reduced the pomp of court, charged monasteries with education and hospital services, fostered German speaking musical theater, and opened both museums and parks to the public. From the end of the 18th century the aristocracy from all over Europe came to enjoy the pleasures of winter in Vienna with its vast cultural offerings including numerous public concerts and so-called academies for the composer’s benefit. It is no wonder that the telephone book of Vienna is still today packed with names of Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Russian and Balkan origin.
Our morning tour in rather inclement weather took us west of the city center to the enormous summer castle called Schoenbrunn, where the Empress Maria Theresa enjoyed some repose from rearing 16 children and ruling the vast Habsburg Empire. The famous Marionette Theater delighted us with a puppet ballet to Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music), which was followed by a delicious apfelstrudel tasting and demonstration. The grand park leading out to the Gloriette is still open to the public free of charge, as it was over 200 years ago. Schoenbrunn is the most frequented tourist site in Austria, and it was still peak season in September.
Beethoven and Schubert crossed the threshold into the Romantic era with their music of great emotion and powerful sentiments, and the magnificence of lengthy symphonies as well as the intimacy of solo lieder. In this age of the Congress of Vienna (1814-15) and Biedermeier fashion, many new dances became the rage, and the waltz, the polka, the menuet and the galopp were popular among all classes.
A large group of us enjoyed the dances and frivolous love affairs representing decadent Viennese society in Franz Lehar’s operetta The Merry Widow at the People’s Opera (Volksoper), while another group chose highlights of the Classical Era at the Hofburg. Lovers of opera were reminded anew of the excellence of the Vienna State Opera in performances of Wagner’s Flying Dutchman and Verdi’s powerful opera of love, revenge and hatred, Simon Boccanegra.
Fin de siècle art and architecture are exemplified in Vienna by the Secession Exhibition Hall from 1897 with its extraordinary ball of golden laurel leaves, and the Beethoven frieze by Klimt from 1902. The motto on the building gave thought for reflection: Der Zeit ihre Kunst, der Kunst ihre Freiheit, loosely translated: "For the times, its art; for art, its freedom."
In the shadow of this building a group of us visited the famous Naschmarkt, including a seemingly infinite variety of stands and shops, from a farmer’s market to exotic delicatessens. With Sharon Grainger’s advice, luncheon delicacies were purchased and shared on hastily grouped tables. In the rain it wasn’t an ideal day for the adjacent flea market, however. Instead one could appreciate the views of other Secessionist/art nouveau buildings such as the Majolica House and the Karlsplatz Metro by Otto Wagner, as well as the Orchid House of the Hofburg.
Some expedition members chose to bask in the glories of an exceptional exhibition entitled “Tutanchamun and the Pharaohs” at the Ethnological Museum of the Hofburg. With a golden mask, alabaster urns, and other choice artifacts never shown before outside Egypt, the exhibition proved to be an addition to the knowledge of even the most sagacious Egypt lovers.
Even today the cultural glories of Vienna of the Habsburgs attract visitors from all over the globe, and we, too, basked in the stimuli of the day with vivacious conversation over post-performance drinks aboard the River Cloud.
