Random Vienna Moments II

Here is a second blog post of pics which don't fit into any larger narrative, but that you might enjoy.

 Leonard Bernstein's tux. Given to the Museum of the Vienna Philharmonic after a performance of Beethoven's 9th in the late 70's.

"On this place stood the house in which MOZART died, on the 5th of December, 1991."

 The birthhouse of Alban Berg. I am trying to find his grave, too.

 A movie playing in an arsty cinema. It's called "Mahler on the Couch". It is a dramatization of the 4 hour session Mahler had with Sigmund Freud, which took place shortly before Mahler died. The couch is a metaphor, in this case he and Freud walked up and down the beach one cold day in Leiden, Holland. Ironically enough, "leiden": in German means  "suffering"... Freud commented later that he was astonished at Mahler's capacity for understanding human psychology...

Gustav Klimt's "Life and Death".

 A painting by Egon Schiele

 Another Schiele. It reminded me of Farmington, Maine.

I am so happy I found this one... At the Piaristenkirche. It reads: "Anton Bruckner, on November 21st, 1861, took the Practical Composition Test on the organ of this church [the test involved improvising fugues and counterpoint on themes given to him at the test]. Johann Herbeck, later the Head Court Composer, summed up the event with these remarkable words: 'He should have tested us!'"

 Detail from a building by Otto Wagner.

 Another view.

 The city library. It is built above a U-Bahn line. We get books for the kids here.

 An evening view of the back of the Opera House

The "Beethovengang". Beethoven walked along the small brook beside this path when he lived in Heiligenstadt, a suburb of Vienna. He sketched themes from the Pastoral Symphony on this path. Movement 2 is called "Scenes by a Brook"....

The signs along the path.

 The Judenplatz. "Jewish Square", was the center of the old jewish ghetto. They were periodically burned down during pogroms. It is a very beautiful, quiet corner of Vienna. The Holocaust Memorial can be seen in the background.

 The Holocaust Memorial. The base of the memorial has all the names of the camps inscribed around it.

 The memorial is a rectangular building, which looks like a library, in which all the books are stacked with the bindings facing inwards, a metaphor for all the knowledge lost through the deaths of so many. It could also be seen as a comment on the anti-intellectualism of the Nazis, spurning literature, philosophy, etc.

 A good, old Vienna tram.

The front of the Opera, in the daytime.

 In looking for Berg's grave, I found Klimt. He took a page from Mahler; a simple gravestone...

 If you know Klimt's landscapes, you will remember he loved Birch trees. They figure prominently in his works.

 I love the seeing Brahms Memorial progress through the season.... I hope it snows before we leave...

 "On this place stood the house in which JOHANNES BRAHMS lived, from January 1st, 1872 until his death on April 3rd, 1897."

 The spot where the Magic Flute was first performed. It reads: " 'I am the merry birdcatcher, from Mozart's Zauberflöte, Freihaus Theater, September 30, 1791." Mozart dies less than 3 months later.

 One of the last statues to the Kaiser, Franz-Josef, and the most human. Done after his death in 1916, at the age of 86, after 67 years as Kaiser. Austria was at war, and the monarchy was crumbling. Neither would survive the war intact. Austria would lose the war, it's empire. The monarchy was dissolved, replaced by a teetering Republic, too weak to survive being swallowed up by Nazi Germany 20 years later. IN the statue, the Kaiser is dressed in a simple uniform, as was his wont, carrying a Field Marshals baton, looking humble and pensive.

 Mark Twain slept here.

A last Brahms pic...

Thanks for stopping by.