Wien!

Vienna

It's a great city. Truly a city for particularly the eye, but also for the ear. That is, if you stay away from the organs. They might look beautiful, but we'll leave it at that for now..

I got there after taking the train from Salzburg. I got in at 2:45, found my hostel (nicest one I've stayed yet) and then rushed frantically downtown after a quick chat with my dad on Skype. I took the metro and got of at the Herrengasse stop. I walked past a couple churches (that I later played the organs in) the Hofburg palace, the Albertina museum, and finally arrived at the Statsoper. Now, I've heard lots about the Statsoper. Read that it is the best opera company in the world, heard lots from Mrs. Glass and was very excited to go there. I found that The Marriage of Figaro (by Mozart…) was playing that night. Now, the predicament came. Did I want to sit and watch or stand and watch? Ultimately my suffering pocket book won out (actually, sitting was never an option!) and I sat down in line by about 4:15. The Statsoper has about 600 places for standing room. They charge a measly 3-4 Euro for these tickets. But, there are lots of people that want them and I wanted a good standing spot. So, I sat… and waited. and twiddled my thumbs. THen I started talking to people in line. One guy (first in line) has been going to the statsoper for 40 years 2-3 times a week for the ten month season! I quickly did the math in my head. That comes out to roughly 4000 opera performances he has been to. Or, if you take a conservative average of 3.5 hours per opera (if its wagner count on 5) that means he has spent around 14,000 hours of his life standing and watching opera. The experience has payed off. He had a nice little collapsible chair that folded in to a little black bag that matched the suit and tie he was watching. He had with him a copy of some rather academic looking tome… I never asked what it was that he was reading.

Then I met some fellow music students from America. They are on an art tour of Europe. I met a czech exchange student studying international development and aid and a Bulgarian architecture student. All in all, it was quiet a relaxed and chill environment. Non of the snobbish stuffiness you would expect at an opera. The opera itself was brilliantly performed, quite hilarious and very enjoyable. Mozart was a genius at capturing emotion and drama on the stage and his work as an opera composer shaped most of his music. 

The opera ended around ten (yes, that is roughly 5-6 hours of standing. My shoulder is still sore from leaning over the rail), so, I went back to my hostel talked to my dad again and then gorked out. I woke up at 6:30 and ate a hurried breakfast. I went down town in time to get to Stephansdom (the big, big cathedral in Vienna) to catch early morning mass. That was quite interesting to walk. Stephansdom is a nice cathedral, but I didn't think it was all that amazing to look at. The tiled roof was the most visually appealing. And their 23000 kg bell suspended from a tower was pretty cool. After that, I hung out in Stephansplatz, ate some ice cream and then went to the Augustinerkirche (after walking the the complete opposite direction I needed to go and ending up in a random park with statues for Schubert, Bruckner and Strauss. I yawned at those and took a nap :). The Augustinerkirche is attached to the Hofburg Palace and I met organist Wolfgang Copek, who is the organist at the church and one of the teachers at the University. They have two organs there. A small "Bach" organ that is a copy of a Silbermann instrument and a behemoth 4- manual Rieger. Im not sure which was worse, but probably the Rieger. The Bach organ wouldn't have been that bad, but the reeds were horrible and the mixtures not much better. I played the Toccata in C by Bach, but, the reeds were so weak that it kinda sounded funny. We then went up stairs and he demonstrated the Rieger for me with a set of improvisations on a Christmas carol that I can't remember the name of. It was very interesting. 

He then asked how I knew Peter Planyavsky (the Organist that arranged for me to meet Dr. Copek) I explained that I really didn't but that he was a friend of my teacher Judy Glass, and that they studied with Heiller at the same time. He was like  "wow…. you studied with Judy Glass?!? thats amazing! How is she? I met her once almost 40 years ago!" Anyways, that was kinda neat. I hope I didn't damage Mrs. Glass' good reputation. I played horribly. My fingers were really stiff and the pedal board was whack :)

From there I don't remember what I did… I eventually ended up at my hostel and talked to Laurel and then my brother and my dad. I left again at around 5 and went back to the city centre. Peter Planyavsky had one of his students doing his masters exam. So, I went to St. Ursula's church and enjoyed the 40 minute long concert. The guy played well. A little mechanical and rhythmical, but, overall, very excellent. After I got to play for about 45 minutes. It is an interesting instrument and was very special to play. It is the same organ were Mrs. Glass had lesson's with Heiller when she studied in Vienna. I'd heard a lot about it and it was fun to play. The church is more beautiful than the organ, but it was still interesting. I then went to Salieri's Pizza house and caught the end of the celebrations for this student. I got to my hostel around 9 and talked at length with my hostel mates. 

Friday I went to the Schonbrunn palace (Beautiful!) and then to the Hofburg where I saw the collection of ancient instruments, arms, armour and the royal treasures of the Hapsburgs, Then to the Fransiskanerkirche where they have the recently restored oldest organ in Vienna. It is a 1642 meantone, two manual, short octave and split sharp instrument. Very very similar in sound to our organ in Ackerman. I really enjoyed the concert (by on of P. Planyavsky's students from 35 years ago) and the after concert lecture in german. Then, i committed a heinous sin. I went to starbucks. I felt horrible about it, but they had internet. It was a very conflicting moment for me. After a bit there, I played the organ in some church around the corner that I don't remember. It was dedicated to like John, or Paul, or Simon, or "Pick your favorite saint". After awhile, the names blend together. Very nice church and fascinating instrument. It is three manuals with a very disproportionate ruckpositiv and hauptwerk. The third manual is a little continuo organ that is attached. The pedal is very weak. It only has like 20 pedals total, with a short octave. Bach is impossible to play on an instrument like that. It is actually really nice for Froberger, Muffat, Frescobaldi etc, but, it is a completely different world than what I've studied. It is very interesting music,  and actually sounds very nice on that organ, but, I just don't know anything about that music! 

From there, I went back to starbucks until my computer died (my feet were really tired. I did A LOT of walking in Vienna) and then to the Volksgarten/theatre and Austrian parliament. Then I went to the station and got on my night train to Dresden. I had two other guys in the room on the train. We talked for awhile then got to bed around midnight. 

Ill post more about Dresden and Leipzig when I get to Hamburg. It seems the only time I have to write this down is when Im on trains. So, tomorrow, I go to Hamburg, ergo, I shall write about Leipzig! This was written on the train from Freiberg back to Leipzig. I went there today for mass at a church with a very famous silbermann organ.