Well hello again! It's been about 2 weeks since I last posted...wow. Back in Perth now and trying to get my head around lots of stuff. But anyway...time to get started with my Vienna pics!
Spent about 5 days in Vienna and went to quite a number of places...but let's start with some music-related stuff - the Haus der Musik. It's an interactive museum situated near the city centre of Vienna, and it's got exhibits of cutting-edge music technology (sound synthesisers, information about how our ears work and so on), as well as information on famous music composers.
There were quite a number of things to see and do in Haus der Musik, but we focused more on the famous composers that were exhibited. But before that, here're a couple of interactive displays that were featured - and these were mainly focused on sound and how sound is perceived in the ears. Lots of cool interactive displays!
Went down to the musicians' exhibits. The musicians' exhibits were arranged in chronological order - from the Classical to Romantic/20th Century eras. Most of my focus was on Classical and Romantic composers. I was kinda surprised that Bach wasn't included as part of the exhibits.
First up - Franz Joseph Haydn. The exhibits included his compositions, interactive stations where we could listen to his compositions (shown in the pic below), and paintings of him. Haydn was one of the most prominent Classical music composers...and he also influenced composers like Ludwig van Beethoven. His music is pretty unique...and although I didn't play any of his piano pieces during my diploma, it was a great pleasure learning and listening to his compositions.
Next up - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Like what I mentioned before in my Salzburg posts, Mozart is worshipped EVERYWHERE in Austria. More so in Salzburg of course...but in Vienna, he is also highly admired. So yes - there will definitely be exhibits of him and his career. Some of the exhibits included the costumes worn during his time, his music scores (I should say, his handwriting is so neat!), as well as stage settings for his operas. I've included a pic from the scene "Queen of the Night" from "The Magic Flute" here.
Moving on to my favourite composer of all - LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN! When I saw his portrait I nearly jumped for joy - I've got a T-shirt with the exact same portrait on it! Exhibits in this section included caricatures of him, his music (which I was so excited about because I love to see his original sketches and scores), his attitude towards life (he was quite a grumpy person to be honest!), his struggle with deafness, as well as other personal struggles like his anger towards Napoleon Bonaparte, his efforts to gain the trust and approval of his nephew and so on. There was even a replica of his death mask.
Speaking of Beethoven, I just bought a namecard holder with his face on it. Celebrating future working life in style! In addition to all the other Beethoven merchandise I have...
Franz Schubert was next. Didn't have much time here - but I managed to get a pic of his "official" portrait - the one which is often seen in publications...and of course, sampled some of his amazing masterpieces.
Another person who's appreciated and worshipped in Vienna - Johann Strauss Jr. Of course, we shouldn't forget about his family. The Strauss family were one of the most prominent family of composers in Europe, and Johann Strauss Jr. is my favourite out of all of 'em. I really love his waltzes!! I even went to the public park in Vienna just to have a pic of the Strauss statue...and bought a ceramic figurine of Strauss with his violin!
Last stop - an interactive game where we got to "conduct" the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra with Zubin Mehta! This was something I really, really wanted to try for ages...and when I saw it, I stepped straight onto the conductor's stand, and had lots of fun. I "conducted" Mozart's "A Little Night Music" and followed the scores provided. Chose Mozart since he's so popular in Vienna.....
AND I WON!! What a relief...considering that everyone around me knew that I was a trained musician...and I just couldn't afford to mess it up.
Next highlight after winning the challenge - playing piano in the Haus der Musik foyer! The receptionist said that the piano could be played...but only for a short period of time. So I played Chopin's Etude Op.25 No.1 (Aeolian Harp)...and had a nice time of course.
One tick off the bucket list - playing piano in Vienna...!! (wait...I actually did this twice so two ticks!)
It was dark by then (it got dark at 4:30 in winter!), so we spent some time admiring the beautiful Christmas lights. Vienna has got one of the best Christmas lights in Europe...and in the world...
Mozart-themed liquor. Maybe if I drank these, I could absorb some of Mozart's genius? Just kidding.
The beautiful Hofburg Palace - all lit up at night. We went back to the Palace about 2 days later...in the day. More to that in upcoming posts!
Also passed by the Spanish riding school - and I was awed by the amazing carvings and architecture. In fact, I was really, really impressed by ALL the architecture I saw around the Ringstrasse in Vienna (FYI the Ringstrasse is the central part of Vienna, and is the place where the majority of heritage and prominent buildings are situated).
Some of the buildings around the Ringstrasse include the Parliament Building, Burgtheatre (which we passed by), Universitat Wien (more to that in an upcoming post), and the Vienna Town Hall. Oh - and Sigmund Freud was known to take daily strolls around this area...!!
The Vienna Opera House was equally impressive at night...and the most impressive thing about it (in my opinion) was the arches! These looked so gorgeous at night, and so unique! I really love the architecture here in Vienna - most of these buildings were constructed before 1870.
Sacher Hotel in Vienna - just next to the Opera House. This hotel is famous for Sacher Torte - a delicious dessert cake. I've had Sacher Torte a few times...but haven't tried the one here. Sacher Torte is one of my favourite desserts ever!
Oh yes - a couple of restaurants along the way, one of which was named after Mozart. I reckon - Mozart's compositions are played as the background music in this place :)
And that's it for now! More music related stuff coming up - after all, Vienna IS the capital for music!