We also visited the Vienna Museum, at Karltzplatz. It had some great artifacts and items from Vienna's history. It included some Klimt paintings, old military armor, and paintings of the Habsburgs. Similar to the Smithsonian, the Vienna Museum is housed in different buildings with various subjects.
Karlskirche
A wooden miniature of Vienna in the late 1700s.
Tonight, we attended a free performance of the Magic Flute at the Staatsoper (the State Opera). These are the best of the best of the best in opera. We are studying the Magic Flute later on, so this was a great opportunity! We sat outside and watched it on a big screen. It was great. The singing was fantastic, but the set was a bit strange. They mixed modern with some traditional elements. It didn't really work. I don't like when shows are presented in a strange, abstract way just for the sake of being artsy. I would have preferred it to be either modern or traditional, but not both. Musically, at this level, we can only discuss how we liked each person's timbre in their voice and whether we enjoyed their character rather than if they were good or not. Of course they were excellent! The orchestra was fantastic. There were two female musicians that I could see...a second violin and the bassoon player! I couldn't see the percussion. All in all, wonderful!
I have way more pictures than this, but it's taking a while to upload them. I'll have to show you all of them when I return!
Busy day! I've been obsessed with Klimt lately. His "tree of life" is inspired and inspiring! His work always seems elegant and serene yet bizarrely misogynistic. Nearly all of his female figures are visually decapitated or twisted unnaturally.
ReplyDeleteOutdoor opera sound fantastic too! Post those pics! Your blog is awesome!