{"id":1634,"date":"2011-02-04T18:02:19","date_gmt":"2011-02-05T02:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ups.edu\/studyingabroad\/?p=1634"},"modified":"2011-02-04T18:02:19","modified_gmt":"2011-02-05T02:02:19","slug":"wiener-performing-arts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/2011\/02\/04\/wiener-performing-arts\/","title":{"rendered":"Wiener Performing Arts"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last two weeks have been eventful.\u00a0 Since I last wrote, I went and roamed around the city some more, took some sightseeing pictures with my friends, ice skated at the Rathaus Wiener Eistraum (City Hall Vienna Ice Dream) \u2013 in fact it was my first time ice skating \u2013 and Suzanne said I did pretty well, as in, I actually did ice skate instead of trying to “walk” on the ice or clinging to the rail all the time!\u00a0 That was a lot of fun.<\/p>\n

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Wiener Eistraum<\/p><\/div>\n

And there was the TU Ball.\u00a0 I should mention that it is ball season in Vienna, so there are lots of balls to go to.\u00a0 This one was hosted by the Technische Universit\u00e4t Wien, and IES students get discount on the tickets (reduced from maybe \u20ac 70 to \u20ac 20) so almost all of the hundred IES students attended this ball.\u00a0 It was at the Hofburg Palace:<\/p>\n

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There is so much going on, I just don’t know what to write about.\u00a0 I will say this, I was not super excited for the ball, as I am not much of a dancer and generally like to avoid being in crowded rooms, but I have to say, I quite enjoyed that evening (perhaps a little too much…)\u00a0 I had to shop for a ball gown.\u00a0 It is required that women wear floor-length dresses at these balls.\u00a0 I did not take it that seriously.\u00a0 Truth be told, I literally spent like five minutes looking for a gown, and purchased the first one I tried on because it fits me and it is floor-length.\u00a0 My friends and I agreed to meet up at a neighborhood Humana (sort of like Goodwill) after class two days before the ball.\u00a0 As I get out of classes later then my friends, they started their search earlier.\u00a0 I got to the second-hand shop when they had already decided that there was nothing promising and were about to leave.\u00a0 They handed me one dress that looks like an appropriate ball gown, and that was it.\u00a0 I fixed the straps on the day of the ball, so that it actually fits me.\u00a0 My point is, I am not a sort of girl who is all about dressing up and dancing all night.\u00a0 However, I was at Hofburg from around 9 pm till 5 am.\u00a0 We sat in the main room until the last waltz.\u00a0 The U-Bahn started running at 5 am, so it was perfect for us to get home.\u00a0 And<\/em> we were welcome to take home as much of the fresh flowers at the ball as we like if we stayed till the end.\u00a0 I danced, but not that much.\u00a0 What I loved about the ball was the live music, and the elegant Viennese people, young and old, staying up dancing and waltzing all night long.<\/div>\n
Between these two weeks, I also saw two operas at the Wiener Staatsoper:\u00a0 Mozart’s Die Zauberfl\u00f6te and Puccini’s La Boh\u00e8me.\u00a0 For a 7 or 7:30 opera, we would go after school, get in line for purchasing Stehpl\u00e4tze (standing seats) at around 4:30, sit down and do some homework, get to a spot at around 6, use our scarves to reserve the standing space, and grab something small to eat for dinner around the Staatsoper.\u00a0 We normally get home at almost 11 after an opera.\u00a0 These Stehpl\u00e4tze are only \u20ac 3 or \u20ac 4 \u2013 cheaper than, say, if you go to a Viennese coffee shop and order a cup of Vienna size “gro\u00df” coffee, which is pretty tiny (but the coffee here is so strong and so addicting; I don’t add sugar or cream or anything).\u00a0 One seriously has to measure things differently in Vienna.\u00a0 I love it!\u00a0 If one wishes, the arts can play such<\/em> a major role in the Viennese life.\u00a0 What I also really like is that, it doesn’t matter if the IES students are music students (by the way, the majority of the study abroad students at IES Vienna are not <\/em>music students), almost everyone who chose Vienna can appreciate the arts, may it be going to one of the numerous museums or a ballet, opera, play, or concert.\u00a0 I have seen two operas so far, but many have seen three or four already.\u00a0 There is one opera showing at the Staatsoper almost every night, and they mix up the programs and put up different sets for each production, too!\u00a0 For example, this Saturday, there is Britten’s Billy Budd, Sunday La Boh\u00e8me again, Tuesday Gounod’s Rom\u00e9o et Juliette, Wednesday Billy Budd again, and Thursday Die Fledermaus, a ballet.\u00a0 There is also the Volksoper, which I have yet to go, I plan to, soon, and many other high quality and affordable venues, if one is willing to stand through the performance, that is, usw.\u00a0 It is incredible.\u00a0 The entire city’s attitude and value for the arts is so different from what I knew in the States.\u00a0 I think about that.\u00a0 I am used to societies that regard the arts as a secondary thing, perhaps leisure, entertainment, not mandatory.\u00a0 And yet, the arts can play a very integral role in one’s life.\u00a0 A way of thinking about it is that, for example, the arts cultivate the soul \u2013 then how can you live without seeing performances,visiting museums regularly?\u00a0 This is very realistic, but the price does influence this perspective.\u00a0 When I lived in Taipei, Taiwan, there were world-class performances at National Theater and National Concert Hall.\u00a0 I went to a James Galway (I used to play the flute!!) concert when I was eleven years old, I think, but that was probably one of the two times I have ever been to the National Concert Hall, during the thirteen or fourteen years that I lived there.\u00a0 It is expensive to attend a performance like that, and such a luxury can never sink into the daily lives of the ordinary residents of the city.\u00a0 In Missoula, my family used to be impressed by how there would be summer Symphony in the Park, International Choral Festivals, and lots of free concerts like that, so that even people who do not attend major symphony concerts would occasionally choose to drop by these casual free performances.\u00a0 But, let’s be honest, I live in Vienna <\/em>now, everyone has high expectations for the performance quality, it is not my endearing little city of Missoula.\u00a0 I am willing to take standing seats and make a little extra effort, and guess what I am doing with my friends later today?\u00a0 Should we go see an opera, some other performances, or sit at a coffee shop?\u00a0 Nah, going clubbing is waaayyy too expensive.\u00a0 By the way, for the sake of trying, and thanks to some of my roommates who enjoy going out, I have tried some clubs and stuff, but I can’t really afford it.\u00a0 And because I have gone, I can say it is really not my place.<\/p>\n

Tonight my friends and I were planning on going to see Rom\u00e9o et Juliette.\u00a0 However, dear Suzanne found out about Gustavo Dudamel (Yes, it’s DUDAMEL<\/em>!!!!!) conducting LA Phil and performing Mahler 9 at the Musikverein!!!!!\u00a0 For 6 \u20ac we get standing seats to see Dudamel and all the amazing amazing things mentioned above!\u00a0 Before today I had not seen the inside of Musikverein, the instrumental performance venue, where Vienna Phil performs, so that made it extra exciting.\u00a0 The performance was just phenomenal and breath taking.\u00a0 During the Adagio, I could see, and feel, tears from people around me; there was so much emotion in the air.\u00a0 I thought the audience, Dudamel, and the Philharmonic became, like what my ensemble director likes to say, an organism.\u00a0 The performers communicated the emotion, the audience responded to it, and the music making happened as a result of this communication.\u00a0 The performance was incredibly delicate \u2013 the quiet notes were so unbelievable!\u00a0 The applause went on and on, and I was moved not only by the music, but by the energy of the people.\u00a0 A Viennese gentleman we talked to, he could not stop clapping at the end, and his face was all tears and sweat.\u00a0 He had seen Vienna concerts for fifty years, and he saw Leonard Bernstein conduct Mahler 9, which he said was his favorite.\u00a0 People so passionate about music like this just add to the beauty of my unbelievable evening.\u00a0 And naturally, I met Dudamel, shook his hands, got an autograph, and took pictures with him.\u00a0 And yes, he is super nice!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The last two weeks have been eventful.\u00a0 Since I last wrote, I went and roamed around the city some more, took some sightseeing pictures with my friends, ice skated at the Rathaus Wiener Eistraum (City Hall Vienna Ice Dream) \u2013 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-joan-hua-12-vienna"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1634\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}