Thursday, January 10, 2013

Phillip's Phasinating Phindings: in Salzburg!

9 Jan. 2013

Hallo und Grusse Gott, one and all! This is Phillip Pia, coming to you live from the wonderful city of Salzburg, Austria!


After a long, exhausting day of travel and a fabulous guided tour of the city, we found ourselves at an exquisite dinner-concert at St. Peter's Abbey (home of the oldest restaurant in Europe: open since 803 AD!). In between selections from three Mozart operas, we were served three courses of a delicious meal: a white soup with lemon undertones and a rosemary bread dumpling, roasted chicken breast in a brown sauce, and honey parfait with cocoa powder for dessert. It was a tasty, satisfying meal that made our evening of music just that much better.

The music program was a selection of arias and duettos from three Mozart operas: Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro, and The Magic Flute. I was very much impressed with the quality of the music making tonight - the chamber string ensemble had impeccible rhythmic cohesion, staying in time even through complex passages. The vocalists were very good, too - the soprano had a nice, warm quality to her voice, and handled all her parts with incredible ease; the baritone also had a rich, full tone that suited the pieces quite well.

Overall, tonight was a great night of music. The intimate environment made the music just that much more affective, and added a dimension to the inherent drama of the opera genre. I almost felt as if I was actually part of the show, being seated at tables so close to the action. Very enjoyable indeed!

From Salzburg, Austria, this is Phillip saying "Tschuss!" for now!

 

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