Day 231: On stage at the Musikverein
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day
231 — On stage at the Musikverein
20-March-1972
(Montag–Mon.)
TRANSCRIPT
Had our first rehearsal
in the Musikverein. Great place to play. What
acoustics. Even the horns sound good. Is this my big
step up?
REFLECTIONS
The Musikverein. Built in
1870, the Vienna Musikverein (photo above) is a
world-class concert hall and home to the Vienna
Philharmonic. It is renowned for it’s acoustics as
being among the best in the world. The décor is
ornate, with its organ balcony, sometimes
accommodating the Vienna Boys’ Choir (photo below).
The chandeliers are gorgeous. Music history oozes
from its walls.
I’ve seen
many concerts in this hall—the Vienna Philharmonic,
the famous Vienna New Years Concert with Strauss
waltzes and polkas, and the soon-to-come series of
Leonard Bernstein conducting Mahler’s symphonies with
the Vienna Philharmonic. The acoustics are amazing.
Normally, I’m in the back in standing room. Always
crowded and far back (see opening picture). I’ve just
learned from Wikipedia that standing room holds up to
300 people. For the Bernstein–Mahler concerts, I
purchased a balcony seat slightly behind the
orchestra, where I could see Bernstein conduct.
Amazing.
The opening picture shows the Großer Saal, or Golden
Hall (Wikimedia Commons).
On stage. I’m on
stage in the Musikverein rehearsing Bruckner’s 8th
with my horn and Wagner tuba. What a thrill to be on
this stage.
Links:
Here is a link
to the
Musikverein page in Wikipedia.
Here is
a humorous web article
that
attributes the wonderful acoustics of the
Musikverein to the gilded golden bare breasts of
50 topless sculptures in the music hall. Ok, I’m
stretching it a bit and just wanted to use the
words topless and breasts to increase
readership.
John
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