Classical Music, Vienna

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How could you come to Vienna and not pay tribute to Mozart?

The "Figaro" house is the only survivor of the eleven places the composer is known to have lived in at various times in Vienna, and he only occupied an apartment in the building at that, but the years between 1784 and 1787 that he spent there were known to be among the happiest of his short life, and it was here that he wrote the sublime "Marriage of Figaro".

Apart from the music, there's little that is tangible left of Mozart's life, so don't expect to find much here that belonged to the genius. The whole museum is really a piece of smoke and mirrors, using clever effects and a few prints, copies of scores and other odds and ends to tell the story. It won't be enough for some people, but for others just to walk through the rooms, to gaze at the elaborate ceiling of his and Constanza's bedroom, to hear the strains of the immortal music, is enough to conjure up the ghost.

Before visiting Vienna, I purchased an advance ticket for a performance of a classical string quartet advertised as a "Konzert im Mozarthaus" (Concert in the Mozart House). The name in the advertising is a little confusing because the concerts are not in the building on Domgasse 5 known as the Mozart House. Instead, the venue for the concerts is the Sala Terrena on Singerstrasse 7 -- a small, ornately decorated Baroque concert hall with a vaulted ceiling. Mozart and other famous classical composers/musicians performed in this small concert hall which is renowned for its terrific acoustics.

The Sala Terrena seats up to 100 people -- and there were a few empty seats for the performance that I attended. However, during the busy tourist season, it is probably best to purchase an advance ticket to ensure seat reservations. With this tip, I have included a link to a web page with more information about the concerts and how to purchase tickets in advance.

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“If there is anyone here whom I have not insulted, I beg his pardon.”
— Johannes Brahms (1833–1897), said upon leaving a gathering of friends

GENIUS AS VULGARIAN Johannes Brahms lived near-by to where Rudolf von Weyr’s memorial, sculpted between 1902 and 1908, now stands in Resselpark. The mournful Muse of Music (see photo #2) is filled with sorrow at the master’s feet.

Brahms settled permanently in Vienna in 1868. His urge to hold an official position (connected with his notions of social respectability) resulted in the 1872 conductorship of the Vienna Gesellschaftskonzerte; but the demands of the job conflicted with his intense longing to compose. Both his 1869 German Requiem and Variations on the St. Antony Chorale (1873) were met with acclaim, bringing international renown and financial security. In Vienna he came to occupy a position similar to that once held by Beethoven, his gruff idiosyncrasies tolerated by those who valued his genius.

The Konzerhaus built in 1913 has not one but four separate auditoriums. This is the place to listen and enjoy great music. I was able to buy a ticket to a Bach cantata an hour before the performance. But not many seats were left. The musicians played on period instruments with a small choir including a boys choir. The soloists were superb. I would not bother with the pop 40 of Mozart that the touts in Mozart suits sell in the City

Well, Vienna is the city of Classical music. There are many traces to be found of dead Geniuses like Mozart,Beethoven,Strauss. There are for example many buildings with signs telling that Mozart used to live in the house. The best Mozart museum is however, the Mozart haus close to Stephansplatz. It contains the rooms of his apartment, no furniture around and the museum also dedicates some rooms on the 3d or was it the 4th floor to his music.

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How long has it been since the song "Silent Night" been heard for the first time?
The song known worldwide originates from a small Austrian village named Oberndorf.
It was sung in the village-church first, on 24 December 1818. with a great success. The village's young priest, Joseph Mohr wrote the text and the musician-schoolteacher, Franz Gruber composed the melody; they could hardly imagine the impact their composition would have on the world.
It began its journey around the world as a "Tyrolean Folk Song."
The Christmas carol took the stage following this succes: it was translated into hundreds of languages in the 1850 years.
Today, it is one of the best-known pieces of the family and of the church Christmas feasts everywhere in the world, from small chapels in the Andes to great cathedrals in Rome.
A Memorial Chapel (German: Stille Nacht Kapelle) in the village of Oberndorf bei Salzburg may be also visited.

At the traditional Christmas concert at the Vienna’s Konzerthaus held in one of the Advent weeks in every year you can listen to the original version of "Silent Night".

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The Vienna Kursalon was built between the years 1865 and 1867 by Johann Garber in the style of the Italian Renaissance. It's a beautiful building--the brothers Strauss's venue of their famed Promenade concerts.

We attended a classical music concert, interspersed with aria and sometimes accompanied by dancing at the Kursalon. It was filled with Viennese charm and joi-de-vivre. The Virtuosic musicians of the Salonorchester "Alt Wien", one of the best known performers of Viennese classical music, were very entertaining, add to it the extraordinary opera singers and you have an evening filled with Viennese charm.

The only negative aspect of the evening was that I developed an "earworm". The Blue Danube waltz kept playing in my head for the rest of the evening and the following day as well.

Visit Mozart's apartment. This takes about an hour to get around as you use an audio guide. Look behind the scenes at the Opera and the Musikverein (altogether "da da da da da/da da/da da") Take a train to the cemetary and visit the graves of Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert etc)