Most of us knew about the Golden Hall where the Vienna Philharmonic performs but few of us knew about the Konzerthaus where the Vienna Chamber Orchestra performs. The hall itself was covered in golden accents from head to toe. There were approximately 30 chandeliers that individually looked like they were the price of PLU tuition. The gigantic organ was hidden behind golden panels, and the stage was one of the biggest that we have seen on this entire trip. Luxurious is an understatement when talking about the Konzerthaus.
Now the actual orchestra themselves. Well...that's an even crazier story. The conductor used to be the old piano instructor at the Vienna Conservatory and then took on a career as a conductor. The first piece they played was the Mendelssohn Concerto for 2 Two Pianos and so as you can guess, one of the soloists was the conductor himself. When he wasn't shredding on the piano, he would be conducting the orchestra beautifully. There was actually a moment where was conducted, switch to a fast run on the piano with his left hand, used his right hand to take off his glasses and wipe the sweat off of his forehead and then put his glasses back on without missing a beat with his left hand.
The second pianist was his old student at the conservatory who had recently taken over his old position as piano instructor at the conservatory. It was so obvious that she was his student because they played everything with the same style and character. Being in the presence of this performance was kind of creepy in a way because the level of musicianship was unheard of. I would say that this and Swan Lake have been the two most impressive performances thus far on the trip.
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