Vienna

As I leave Vienna, I contemplate what an amazing city it is.  Cosmopolitan (at least for a European capital), majestic, and overflowing with culture, Vienna is a place that can truly inspire awe.  What really strikes you is the Imperial grandeur of the place.  The Hofburg, the museums, the Schlossburg, the Staatsoper, the Rathaus and Parlament are all huge places.  It makes you remember that until World War I, this was the seat of one of the world's most powerful empires.

Schoenbrunn Palace

Natural History Museum (or Art History Museum . . they look the same)

The Hofburg

When it comes to culture, Vienna is always mentioned as one of the world's leading cities, and for good reason.  Even in summer, with the major orchestras and Opera on break, there's still lots going on in the city, but I'll get to that shortly.

First, I'll talk about the Viennese klezmer scene (I hope that sounds as strange to you as it does to me).  It seems that the klezmer scene contains a "Godfather," if you will, in the benign grandfatherly figure of Leon Pollack.  Pollack, who grew up in Poland after WWII, before moving to Israel and then Austria, is a full-time musician who, since the late 1970s had included more and more Jewish music into his repertoire.  Eventually, in the late 1980s, he met Josh Horowitz, klezmer accordionist and tsimblinst extraordinaire, and it was Horowitz (who was living in Graz at the time) who introduced Pollack to the music of the American klezmer revival.

While their partnership ended a couple of years later, Pollack has become the leader of Vienna's longest running and most serious klezmer band, establishing Ensemble Klesmer Wien in the early 1990s.  Since, that band has become something of a learning band for musicians who want to learn some of the Jewish style and music.  In fact, at the Klezmer Brunch at the restaurant called The Bunkerei, both members of Klezmer Reloaded (a duo performing an interesting sort of klezmer hybrid) are current members of Pollack's band, and call him the "Klezmer Icon of Vienna." 

Klezmer Reloaded

Klezmer Reloaded's set was fascinating in itself.  These musicians blend klezmer with other forms of music, but they also play a great deal of music that can't be considered klezmer by any stretch of the imagination.  They are heavily influenced by classical music (and their sound betrays this) as well as the music of Piazzola, and other, European forms of the Tango. 

One of the truly great things that the city of Vienna does is hold a "film festival" of music films in the summer, outdoors at the Rathaus, with a giant screen, seating, and food and drink kiosks.  I went to see Dee Dee Bridgewater's tribute to Billy Holiday, which was followed by a disappointing concert film of Sonny Rollins live in Vienna.  It was disappointing because, in contrast with Bridgewater's magnetic stage presence and the high production quality of of her film, the Rollins film seemed amateurishly shot and edited, and while Rollins himself hasn't lost much from his technique or sound quality, his ability to play coherent solos seems to have been missing from that particular performance.

Rathaus (City Hall)

The weather did finally clear on my 3rd day in Vienna.  And a highlight was just wandering around the city under blue skies (with not-particularly threatening clouds) (see non-cloudy photos above, and one below).

Vienna Staatsoper (Opera House)

I also went to the "Haus der Musik" - a kind of museum of music.  The first floor is a tribute to the Vienna Philharmonic.  The second floor explores how we hear sound with some electro-acoustic compositions highlighting this, the third is a museum of musican figures from Vienna.  This is where the bulk of the interest was.  A very good (free) audio guide helped you put some of the artifacts and musical development of these composers into context.  Among the items on display were the door of Beethoven's last Vienna apartment, a facsimile of the scratched out title page to his Eroica symphony, and displays of Haydn's commendation letters from France and England.  Also with sections of their own were Schubert, Mahler, Johann Strauss, and getting a little corner were the members of the 2nd Viennese School - Schoenberg, Berg and Webern.  The top floor of the museum was sort of a sonic playground that didn't really do much for me, and of course the museum shop.  All in all, a great little museum, and, since I went during their half-price hours (5-9pm on Tuesdays), a great value. 

Next stop: Slovenia.