It’s only been a few days of being in Europe, and I already
feel like I’ve been here for a long time. I’ve explored parts of Vienna, and it has
been an unforgettable experience.
I had lunch with some friends at a café near St. Stephen’s
Church. Our tour guide recommended it and I really wanted to go there because Mozart
and Beethoven had given some performances there. I think it is really
impressive, but also strange, knowing that I’m having lunch in a place where
such famous and influential composers performed. In general, the buildings in
that part of Vienna are very interesting, because it really seems like there is
a mix of old and new buildings within the same area. I really enjoyed the
walking tour we took through the city. Seeing some of Mozart’s former
residences was very interesting. I remember that he was an extravagant spender
when he established his career, but the buildings I saw did not really stand
out as particularly luxurious when looking at them from the outside. If I hadn’t
been told, I would never have guessed that Mozart lived in those places.
I also went on a tour of the catacombs under St. Stephen’s
Church. It was a rather haunting experience. While some of the bishops,
cardinals, and Habsburgs were buried in marked coffins, it was a little hard to
look at the bones of the plague victims in the mass graves. In some places, the
arm and leg bones were piled so tightly and so high that they formed a wall
whose top I couldn’t see. In other places, the bones seemed to be almost
carelessly thrown in heaps. However, I don’t really know about that for sure,
and I don’t mean to judge. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure if I would
want to pay money to visit a mass grave again. I know that it’s important to be
conscious of and respect the people who are buried there, but I honestly get a
little uncomfortable whenever money is involved in that. At least no one took
photos.
I enjoyed the experience of going to our first concert. I
really like how the performers dramatically read the Schumann letters, as
actors. It kind of reminded me of opera, in that there was a mix of spoken and
sung portions of the performance, combined with drama, and costumes. It wasn’t
done in as large a scale as traditional types of opera, but it seemed to be
larger than a regular recital. I was really impressed that the singers were
able to sing while slouching in their seats. Many people are trained to
maintain good posture in order to produce a good sound, but I really liked how
the performers were able to sing well, even when they were seated in atypical
performance positions. I also thought it was interesting that the piano accompaniment
was written in a way that shows off virtuosity. A lot of times, there is a
clear line between soloist and accompanist, in that the accompanist will often
play very simplistic texture. However, the importance of the parts seemed to be
pretty equal. There was one portion of the performance in which the singer and
the pianist both had the melody, but the piano part had lots of fancy
embellishments between the main notes.
I can’t wait to explore more of Europe! It’s going to be a
fast-paced, and exciting month ahead!
St. Stephen's Cathedral
Tower of St. Stephen's Cathedral
Inside of St. Stephen's Cathedral
Concert hall where we slept through Schumann Letters performance
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