First Days in Vienna

Upon our arrival in Vienna we settled into the hostel and had the afternoon free! A group of us decided to go to the central part of the city at St. Stephen's Cathedral. I think the exit of the U-Bahn at Stephansplatz is one of the best I've seen- it is right next to the massive cathedral and it's awe inspiring every time! As we were wandering around the city we decided to poke our heads into a church and we stumbled upon a free afternoon organ concert! The church was extremely ornate and baroque and it was awesome to hear the organ in use. 

That night we saw the Vienna chamber orchestra. They played a Mendelssohn double piano piece and the conductor was one of the piano soloists, playing with a former student. They played so well together it was hard to tell which pianist was playing! It was amazing to watch the Stefan Vladar conduct from the piano while he was playing an incredible difficult solo part. Having the piano soloist conduct is exactly how Mendelssohn would have done it, maybe even at the Gewandhaus! After that piece they played Brahms' Serenade no. 1. I was familiar with the first two movements but the rest were fairly new to me. I love the way Brahms plays with rhythms and develops his melodies, and the performance was incredibly musical. I hope there are videos online of Vladar's conducting, he was so much fun to watch! We were so close that whenever he turned to the basses and cellos we could see his facial expressions and he was so engaging! The concert hall itself was also spectacular. 

I can't wait to see what else Vienna has in store!