Salzburg - Alyson

    On Friday, January 27th, we left Vienna and headed to our final stop: Salzburg. The trip there was uneventful but the vistas were absolutely stunning. That evening, we attended the Mozart aria dinner, which was very touristy yet fun, especially on Mozart's birthday. The next day, we went on a tour of the city, starting at the iconic Mozart statue and ending at Mirabellgarten. Our guide was fantastic, and she did a good job of pointing out the sites we were all interested in, namely those found in The Sound of Music. After that tour, we had a brief break to grab some food (I had a delicious "Mozart" pretzel, which had chocolate and jam) and then we took the funicular up to Festung Hohensalzburg. As someone with an abject terror of heights, this was not my favorite experience, but the tour, and then my wanderings through the museum after were, as always, excellent. That evening, we attended the first of our Mozartwoche concerts: the Vienna Philharmonic. I really wanted to enjoy this concert, I was even willing to put aside the fact that there are only 4 women in the orchestra, but it seemed uninspired. I know that, of all the ensembles in the world, the Vienna Phil is the one that has Mozart in their blood, but they played Mozart the way Mozart was played decades ago, and that isn't really my favorite sound. The soloist for the piano concerto, Igor Levit, had an interpretation that I enjoyed more, but he seemed to have to fight the orchestra for every inch, which was a bit jarring at times. Given 20 years, I think I'll enjoy the sound of the Philharmonic more, so I look forward to hearing them in a couple decades!

    On the morning of the 29th, we went to Mass at Salzburgdom. I've been to Catholic mass once in my life (when visiting my grandparents as a child), and I'm not a religious person, so I was mostly looking forward to the music. The music, Mozart's KV 257 Credo Mass, was excellent. I only wish that it was socially acceptable to turn around and watch the musicians. The Salzburgdom is also a beautiful building, both architecturally and decoratively. So, despite not being able to watch the musicians, I had plenty of intricate frescos and stonework to keep my eyes occupied during the service. After the service, most of the class took the Untersbergbahn up the mountain, but I kept my feet firmly on the ground and explored the city a bit more until eventually calling it a day and getting some much-needed rest.

    The next morning, we went to Mozart's Gebursthous (the house Mozart was born in). I enjoyed walking around the building and reading about the life the Mozarts lived, but I was really looking forward to seeing his viola. A little know fact about Mozart is that he preferred to play the viola, especially in chamber music ensembles. As a violist, I won't let anybody forget that. However, despite opening every door and entering every room I could, I did not find the viola. This was disappointing, but also my own fault because I was too chicken to ask anyone who worked there for help. When I come back to Austria to see the Vienna Phil in 20 years, I'll be sure to have worked up the courage to actually see Mozart's viola. That evening, we saw the Camarata Salzburg. This was one of my favorite concerts of the whole trip, and my favorite one of our time in Salzburg. Everyone in the ensemble seemed like they were having a good time and the interpretation was more to my liking than the Vienna Phil's.

    For the last day of January, we had an almost entirely free day. I didn't do much until 15:00 when we saw a performance of the Hagen Quartet. Chamber music is my favorite type of concert to watch and participate in. I think it's the perfect blend of being a soloist without quite so much pressure. I was also very much looking forward to hearing the 2nd and 3rd Prussian String Quartets. I really enjoyed the performance, but I could tell by the end that I was growing a little tired of Mozart, which was unfortunate. After the concert, I went up to Nonnberg Abbey and took some amazing pictures of Salzburg.

    On Wednesday, we saw the Mozarteum Orchestra at 11:00. I was definitely Mozart-ed-out, but I still enjoyed the performance. After the performance, Aidan, Rosalyn, Sarah, and I took the bus to the Sound of Music Pavillion. While we couldn't actually go inside the gazebo, we took pictures outside and then spent around an hour at the playground nearby, waiting for the bus. While not the most academic way to spend our last day, it was nice to act like I was "16 going on 17" while swinging and sliding around. After our final group dinner, I went straight to sleep to prepare for over 24 hours of travel starting the next morning.