A Musical Interlude

Thursday, April 8, 2010 (Part 7):

Our evenings in Vienna (two of them) were filled with music.

Mozart was not born in Vienna, but he spent much of his life here. He performed his first concern for the Queen, Maria Teresa, when he was just 6 years old. We saw the room at the Schoenbrunn Palace where his debut royal concert took place. Mozart also spent most of his adult life in Vienna, living in several different places, depending upon the strength of his finances at any given time.

There is a house near Stephensdom that is called "Mozart's House." He lived here only briefly (during one of his more "flush" periods), but one of the rooms here is now used for performances of his works. On Thursday evening, we saw the Mozart Ensemble (a string quartet: 1st violin, 2nd violin, viola and cello) perform at the Mozart House. The room where they played was rather small, but the acoustics were very good. The walls were highly decorated with hand painted plants and cherubs. The audience was small too -- maybe 50 people. It was very intimate, just the way Mozart's work was originally performed. And Katherine and I were in the front row - directly in front of the first violinist. Obviously, it paid off to have purchased our tickets well in advance! We could literally reach out and touch the first violinist. Of course, we resisted the temptation, but Katherine commented that she felt several times as if we were going to be jabbed with the bow!

The performance was excellent - led by the first violinist, a woman. She was extremely energetic in her playing. She moved a great deal, twisting her body, bowing her head. She was really into her music! The program consisted of four pieces -- beginning and ending with Mozart - and with a Dvorak and Haydn piece in between. They also played an encore by Dvorak. It was a wonderful concert.