Erika and the Barber of Seville

Last night we attended a performance of Rossini's Barber of Seville, at the Volksoper. This was not nearly as fancy of an event as Der Rosenkavalier. The opera itself was entrancing and colorful. It was staged in some quasi-50's costuming, and performed on a rotating stage. The first scene was set on the street side of a butcher, a doctor, and a brothel (interesting combination I would say). The baritone sinigng the role of Figaro, the barber, had a powerful, warm and rich voice that could be clearly heard even while singing at his quietest. He had excellent character development, and brought forth the mischievous and comical role of Figaro brilliantly. The role of Rosina was untraditionally performed by a coloratura soprano, instead of a coloratura mezzo-soprano. Nevertheless, her voice was clear and crystalline, floating the highest notes effortlessly. I must admit, I prefer the 3 hour Baraber of Seville to the 4.5 hour Der Rosenkavalier.

Tomorrow is our last day in Vienna and Austria... We will be heading to Bratislava, Slovakia the day after tomorrow. If i remember anything or something noteworthy happens, I will make sure to let you know.

Erika and the overdue blog post.

Over the past few days we have seen and done so many amazing things that I feel this post is long over due. When we first arrived in Vienna we had a concert that night. This concert was THE Vienna Philharmonic in the Musikverein, and let me tell you it was AWESOME!!!! Their performance of Stravinsky's Firebird was so colorful and bursting with movement. They shed a whole new light on musical imagery for this piece for me.

The next morning we attended mass at the imperial palace's chapel, where the Vienna Boys Choir sang Mozart's Coronation Mass. It was like hearing the angels' music float down on you from above. That night we went to the State Opera House (or Staatsoper) to see Der Rosenkavalier. The orchestra was brilliant an the singers were amazing. The acoustics of the room were able to lift the music up to the highest points of the room to where I was sitting. The stage was incredibly dressed in scenes created with excruciating detail and the costuming made you feel as if you had been transported to the time of lords, ladies and daring sword fights. All in all I wish that the room would have been a little cooler and the opera more concise ( aka. not 4.5 hours).

This morning we were able to go to a training session of the Lipizzaner Horses. These are beautiful white stallions that lend ideas towards princes or knights riding in on a white stallion to save the day. Needless to say the horses were extremely well trained, dancing around to every command under the light of bright and glorious chandeliers. After the training session we had some free time, when Maura, Marisa, Elise, and I went to the Sissi Museum and learned about the life of the Austrian Emperess Sissi, and toured the apartment of the Imperial Palace. After this we went to the Stephansdom or St. Stephens Cathedral, where we hiked up the giant tower to the area where the bell formerly was hung. From this spot we were able to see the entire city, and it was gorgeous, especially covered in the snow from the night before.
Tonight we are returning to the Musikverein to see the Mahler Chamber Orchestra perform Beethoven's 7th and Egmont and Haydn's trumpet concerto in E flat.