Category Archives: Vienna’s Musical History
The New Year’s Concert in Vienna
The most famous annual concert worldwide is the New Year’s Concert. This performance of the Philharmonic features the celebrated dance music – mainly waltzes and polkas – of the Strauss family. It is now broadcast around the globe and has … Continue reading
Vienna’s New Year’s Day Concert
Perhaps the most famous annual concert worldwide is the New Year’s Day Concert. This performance of the Philharmonic featuring the music of the Strauss family is now broadcast around the world and has come to represent Vienna to an international … Continue reading
Two Views of Vienna’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral
St. Stephen’s Cathedral is in the very center of Vienna. The square outside is always bustling with visitors, and just as many venture inside to see its magnificent interior. Although I have taken many photographs of it over the years, … Continue reading
Visiting Beethoven on his Birthday
Today is December 16, 2012. Beethoven was born on this date 242 years ago. Actually, we are not sure that he was born on December 16, but we assume this because church records show he was baptized on December 17. … Continue reading
Vienna’s Magnificient Karlskirche
The Karlskirche (St. Charles Church) is Vienna’s great Baroque Church. For the music lover, several interesting stories took place here. When Mozart was quite young, he contracted Scarlet Fever during a trip to Vienna. Once he began to recover, his … Continue reading
Vienna State Opera with a Fisheye Lens
Before this trip I purchased a fisheye lens for my Nikon. Fisheye lenses have lots of intentional distortion and are good for special effects, but you don’t want to use them all the time because they can become a little … Continue reading
John Eliot Gardiner and Beethoven’s Ninth
Last night, I heard Sir John Eliot Gardiner with his Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and Monteverdi Choir play an all-Beethoven program: “Calm Seas and Prosperous Voyage” and the Ninth Symphony. The concert was in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The orchestra … Continue reading
The Vienna Philharmonic’s Summer Concert at Schönbrunn Palace
If you come to Vienna in early summer, you have the opportunity to attend one of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra’s newest traditions – the Vienna Philharmonic’s Schönbrunn Summer Concert. This is a free concert on the grounds of the beautiful … Continue reading
Vienna’s Konzerthaus – Book Excerpt
The following is a draft excerpt from my next book on the musical sites of Vienna which will be published by Doblinger Musik Verlag in Spring 2013. This may not be reprinted or quoted without permission of the author. The … Continue reading
Greensboro on the Danube
The Danube is one of the most historic rivers in Europe. Mozart, the Hapsburgs, Richard the Lionhearted, and the Magyars all traveled on the river, and the cities of Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, and Belgrade grace its shores in its 1785 … Continue reading
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