Beautiful Performances in Vienna

Kunsthistoorische

For our second full day in Vienna we started off at the Kunsthistorische where we took a tour of some of the notable pieces that were home to this museum. I’ve been to a handful of art museums before and I have often found myself just wandering through and thinking “oh that one’s pretty” and not really taking the time to truly examine pieces and spend time reading the plaques that tell you a little about the piece. Thankfully we had a guide which took stopped at different pieces and explained a little about the history of the painter, as well as helped us examine the pieces for things that you might not see upon first glance. He showed us pieces that I on first look didn’t think were all that spectacular, but once we he gave context and discussed more about the piece I developed an appreciation I didn’t have to begin with. All in all, I'm happy that we went, and even more happy that we had a guide because while I didn’t get to see every single piece that was there, I did develop a greater appreciation for the pieces I did see that I surely wouldn’t have without the guide. 

Square across from St. Stephen’s Cathdral

After we finished at the Kunsthistorische we had a significant amount of free time to do whatever we felt like. My friends and I decided to take this opportunity to just walk around the city center and just explore. We started off by stopping at the Naschmarkt by our hostel to get lunch, which included the best baked potato I’ve ever had. Then we hopped on the subway and made our way back to St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Once we made it there, we spend some more time exploring the Cathedral and then spend about two hours just walking around the city, taking pictures, stopping in stores that looked interesting, and just enjoying ourselves in this beautiful city. 

Vienna State Opera house seating

Finally it was time to see our first performance of the trip, the ballet Onegin at the Vienna State Opera! I've seen a few ballets before at the Pacific Northwest Ballet, but I was still not prepared for the beauty that I was about to see. The orchestration was stunning and wonderfully supported the story and choreography. Although I was still recovering from the time change and therefore was extremely exhausted, I’m glad I managed to stay awake and engaged in the performance (which was made easier by the amazing performance)!

Haus Des Meeres - Aqua Terra Zoo

For our last full day in Vienna, the only thing that was planned was in the evening which meant practically a full day to do whatever our heart desired. After spending a good chunk of time looking up possibilities, we ultimately decided to just set out into the city, walk in a direction we hadn’t gone before and see what we stumble across. We walked around just admiring the city and stopping in a few shops here and there for a while until we came across a 10 story aquarium and we decided what better way to spend the day than exploring the Vienna Haus Des Meeres - Aqua Terra Zoo! We got to see an abundance of fish, and even enter a room full of free roaming monkeys and exotic birds (and yes, I was terrified they were going to jump on me the entire time lol). After that we continued on just exploring, stopping in interesting shops, getting some food, and whatever else we found as we wandered until it was time to get ready for that night’s show.

That night we got to see the Haydn Philharmonie and Nicholas Altstaedt perform two pieces by Haydn and a piece by Veress. Being a vocalist, I can sometimes find instrumental concerts kind of boring. No matter how pretty the music is, I find myself zoning out because there’s nothing all that interesting to look at. That was not the case with this performance! To begin, their playing was incredible! They executed runs and melismas I didn’t even think were possible to play at such high speeds on the violin, and even more, they did them together! On top of their excellent playing, they were so interesting to watch, especially Nicholas Altstaedt, the director and solo cellist. They showed their emotion not only through their playing, but also on their face and in their body (something that happens not too often). I found myself not able to take my eyes away for Altstaedt as he played the most beautiful cello solo I’ve ever heard. He, like many others in the group, looked as if he was almost dancing as he played, he was so expressive. When he was not playing I found myself being drawn to the first violist as she was so much more expressive than I thought possible (not to mention she was an amazing player, as proved by her incredible solos). All in all, I din’t have that much excitement going into this concert, but I left in awe.