 Day
18- Vienna
April 21, 2005. Another glorious
day in Vienna. We had been expecting rain all week but it didn’t happen. We’ve
had good weather every day. Today was a lazy day for Nancy and me. Slept in and
then had our usual leisurely breakfast.
 Our
mission for today was to explore more of the Ring road and find the Music House,
which is close to St. Stephan’s cathedral. This is a museum of the music of
Vienna. After a 15 minute walk we found the museum tucked behind the cathedral
on one of the side streets. The top floor of the museum dealt with sound and how
we hear. Not very interesting so we quickly moved down to the next floor, where
each room focused on a Vienna musician – Mozart, Straus, Hayden and Beethoven.
There was a short history of each composer and then examples of their music and
life styles. We both found it fascinating.
The highlight of our visit to
the museum was the chance to virtually conduct the Vienna Philharmonic. Using an
electronic baton I stood in front of a virtual image of the symphony. By using
the baton I could start the music and control the speed and volume of the
musicians.
In the evening we enjoyed our
4th and final music experience in Salzburg – Vienna. Tonight we
attended a concert in “Mozart House” which is the oldest concert hall in Vienna.
Mozart used to work and play in this house when he was employed by Bishop
Colloredo in 1781.
Within the house is the Sala
Terrana which was the concert salon in Mozart’s day. Slightly larger than a
living room, the hall has been restored to its former splendor. It holds about
50 people. The musicians were the Mozart Ensemble who played in the tradition on
the Vienna classical period. The four musicians play the violin, viola and
cello. The music included well known pieces by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. It
was a very intimate concert with the cellist sitting about 6 feet from my chair.
Both Nancy and I very much enjoyed the evening.
It was an early to bed night
as we are off to Budapest early tomorrow morning.
Stay tuned for Day 19 in my
“Around the World in 30 Days” saga.
Alan Salmon
eClub One
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