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As much as anything, Vienna is about music: think of such composers as Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss and Mahler, among others. We decided on an opera. An internet search revealed that the State Opera was staging “Boris Godunov” and the Volksoper had a performance of La Traviata. Well, neither was particularly Austrian, but we chose La Traviata. The leading soprano was Roxana Briban, who you can see and hear on this “Youtube” clip in a dress rehearsal for this very show (hint – if you have a tabbed browser, open this link in a separate tab and listen while you read the tip). Despite being somewhat preoccupied for the first five minutes (see “Warnings”) it soon dawned that this was a very different La Traviata than the usual, which is very colourful. Instead of Parisian parties, the show opened with a dying Violetta in her nightgown on a couch, a gauze curtain separating her from the cast in funereal clothing while phantoms with death masks pirouette. There was no colour, just black, white and grey, and the entire story was presented in retrospect, as a series of flashbacks and hallucinations about the past. In the second half came a splash of red, when the usual gipsy girls were presented as a line of Spanish dancers, then back to the sombre outfits. At the end of the show, Violetta died alone on the stage, her hallucination of Alfredo having disappeared. Curtain. If that sounds truly depressing, in some obscure way it seemed to work (though I think I’d prefer the original presentation style) and we enjoyed what was a very good performance This link will give the details of what seem to be most of the musical shows being presented in Vienna and also enables you to make bookings. For many performances, particularly operas, an early booking (ie several months ahead) seems a good idea!
Smart casual - it does not seem necessary for men to wear suits or women tiaras, but something better than jeans and joggers would be appropriate. Theme: TheaterAddress: Volksoper Wien Stadtbüro, Goethegasse 1, A-1010 ViPhone: +43 (0)1 51444-3669Website: www.volksoper.at
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on October 13, 2006
Vienna
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