Vienna and Venice!!!!
I'm back from a nice long trip to Vienna, Austria and Venice, Italy. Wow, how can I explain how amazing it was?
-I went to many music performances, including the first two nights of Wien Modern (big important contemporary music festival for those of you outside the music loop); a salon performance in a beautiful apartment in downtown Vienna, as part of a series called Kulturverein Salon am Hof, where I saw a contemporary interpretive dancer and an experimental music saxaphonist play (I also got to meet the curator of the series who is an American ex-pat opera singer); and an orchestral concert by the Tonkünstler-Orchester of St. Pölten, conducted by Kristjan Järvi, who I got to meet and hang with briefly afterwords. Contemporary music awesomeness all around.
-I sat in many cafes and had many coffees, and during one evening as I sipped my cappuccino, an old man sat down at my table who knew everything about Thomas Mann, and said he had traveled to Italy to meet the sculptress Anna Mahler (daughter of Alma and Gustav Mahler) who he said got very drunk and talked about how she hated her mother.
-Saw an amazing exhibit on art since 1970 at the Albertina museum. I was so inspired, it was incredible.
-Spent a weekend in Venice, Italy, which is seriously one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life. I saw many a gondola, many a beautiful canal, and ate black pasta (pasta with squid flavored in its own black ink) for the first time.
-Found out while I was there that the CD I sent must have been impressive, because I have been invited to audition for the Tanglewood Festival!!!! Wohoo!!!!!! Guys, this is kind of a big deal.
Here are some pictures from my journey...
Vienna Staatsoper
Picture from the Salon am Hof performance
Had dinner at a woman's house who had this fresco painted on her wall.
First night of Wien Modern:
Me next to the statue of Beethoven in the Konzert Haus Wien during Wien Modern:
I went through the forrest up into the mountains to get this view of Vienna. You can see the famous Vinyards and the Danube.
Sipping tea, in a restaurant in downtown Vienna.
Now for some Venice...
Here's me in Venice.
Having cappuccino, as usual...
And last but not least, an amusing sign from the airport in Vienna. In case you didn't know, airports are NO PICNIC:
Well, now I'm back home. I have a lot of work to do. But I am so happy I got to go on this trip. So much art, beauty, and fun.
-I went to many music performances, including the first two nights of Wien Modern (big important contemporary music festival for those of you outside the music loop); a salon performance in a beautiful apartment in downtown Vienna, as part of a series called Kulturverein Salon am Hof, where I saw a contemporary interpretive dancer and an experimental music saxaphonist play (I also got to meet the curator of the series who is an American ex-pat opera singer); and an orchestral concert by the Tonkünstler-Orchester of St. Pölten, conducted by Kristjan Järvi, who I got to meet and hang with briefly afterwords. Contemporary music awesomeness all around.
-I sat in many cafes and had many coffees, and during one evening as I sipped my cappuccino, an old man sat down at my table who knew everything about Thomas Mann, and said he had traveled to Italy to meet the sculptress Anna Mahler (daughter of Alma and Gustav Mahler) who he said got very drunk and talked about how she hated her mother.
-Saw an amazing exhibit on art since 1970 at the Albertina museum. I was so inspired, it was incredible.
-Spent a weekend in Venice, Italy, which is seriously one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life. I saw many a gondola, many a beautiful canal, and ate black pasta (pasta with squid flavored in its own black ink) for the first time.
-Found out while I was there that the CD I sent must have been impressive, because I have been invited to audition for the Tanglewood Festival!!!! Wohoo!!!!!! Guys, this is kind of a big deal.
Here are some pictures from my journey...
Vienna Staatsoper
Picture from the Salon am Hof performance
Had dinner at a woman's house who had this fresco painted on her wall.
First night of Wien Modern:
Me next to the statue of Beethoven in the Konzert Haus Wien during Wien Modern:
I went through the forrest up into the mountains to get this view of Vienna. You can see the famous Vinyards and the Danube.
Sipping tea, in a restaurant in downtown Vienna.
Now for some Venice...
Here's me in Venice.
Having cappuccino, as usual...
And last but not least, an amusing sign from the airport in Vienna. In case you didn't know, airports are NO PICNIC:
Well, now I'm back home. I have a lot of work to do. But I am so happy I got to go on this trip. So much art, beauty, and fun.