Beautiful Sunday in Salzburg

Another wonderful day of music and great artists. It all started this morning when we went downstairs to the breakfast room of the hotel which is all about mirrors, pine wood paneling and crystal chandeliers, very Sud Tyrol.  They have the nicest breakfast, they will make fresh egg dishes for you in the kitchen so as not to bother other guests with smelly smells. Even their potato pancakes are made fresh with yellow potatoes. Beautiful cheese selection and cold meats, fresh fruits and pastries. Wonderful coffee served individually in silver pots with hot milk. Afterwards we walked around the Mirabel gardens (see movie) to the Mozarteum to listen to Niccolo Jomelli 1742 oratorio Isacco figura del Redentore, or Isaac's sacrifice, taken from the Biblical story.  This baroque piece continues with the theme of this year's festival of Sacrifice, Offering and sacrificial victim, in this story we have Abraham ordered by the God of the Old Testament to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham obeys God All Mighty but his rewarded by a lamb as a substitute. The twist in this musical piece is at the end, Abraham has a vision of his son Isaac being spared while God the Father sacrifices his own son Christ. Don't forget this was written in Italy in 1742 Rome.  Diego Fasolis, conductor, the orchestra was I Barocchisti, chorus of the Swiss Radio, Lugano, the tenor Javier Camarena (Abraham), Roberta Invernizzi as Sarah, Franco Faggioli as Isaac (a counter-tenor role).

I was afraid the Mozarteum would be too warm and it was around 30C inside the room, at intermission we went out into the garden for fresh air, at the back of the garden Will pointed out something quite wonderful, the wood house where Mozart composed the score of the Magic Flute around 1791. I did not know anything about this little house, it is a simple one room house made of wood. Originally it was in Vienna, Mozart would meet singers in this house. Then it was moved to Salzburg and was located in the Gnome garden of the Mirabell gardens next to the Bristol Hotel, it was moved again to the Capucin Monastery and finally after suffering damage due to bombings at the end of WWII  it was moved to its present location at the Mozarteum after the WWII. Imagine walking into this original building where Mozart composed one of his most famous operas, the Magic Flute.

This is what I love about Salzburg, such surprises, totally unexpected. Again the people attending the Festival are people who love music and are here for it, a baroque piece like Isaac's sacrifice by Jomelli is an acquired taste and you will not find your average tourist. What was also nice was to hear it sung in Italian by Italians, the diction and pronunciation was perfect. Camarena who sung Abraham, is from Mexico and he is staying at our Hotel, we met him in the lobby and had a nice chat, he told us that he was singing this role for the first time, he usually sings Bel Canto roles in Opera. We also met Fagioli and Lepore it was nice to speak with them outside the performance and this is what happens here in Salzburg.

We had a very short time for lunch, just 60 minutes, so we had a quick bite at the Sketch Bar and I changed suits for the afternoon presentation at the Grosses Festspielhaus built for Herbert Von Karajan 40 years ago. We saw the 3 ballet by Igor Stravinsky in their original set and costume design.

 Les Noces (1923) with choreography by Bronislava Nijinska and costume by Natalia Gontcharova.
This is a sad ballet, a young women is forced into an arranged marriage, her long hair locks are a symbol of the ties that bind her to her husband and her role is to procreate for the survival of the tribe. A theme common to our human condition but not one feminist would support.

Le Sacre du Printemps (tableaux de la Russie Paienne) (1913), choreographie by Vaslav Nijinsky, costume by Nicolas Roerich. This piece is about Spring, sowing crops, hunting animals and gathering food and in the end Virgin Sacrifice to appease the Gods. Again a very human history in pagan Russia but also true elsewhere.

L'oiseaux de feu (1910), choreography by Michel Fokine and costumes by Alexander Golovin and Leon Bakst.

The orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre under the baton of Maestro Valery Gergiev with the corps de ballet of the Mariinsky (Kirov). Interesting to note that the Mariinsky II opened last week in St-Petersburg, this new theatre which stands next to the old Imperial Mariinsky Theatre was designed and conceived by a Canadian Architect from Toronto.

Gergiev is superb and so was the orchestra, it was also wonderful to see such classic works by Igor Stravinsky in their original setting and costume. After seeing it I am of the opinion that Russians are not Europeans but more an Asiatic people. I formed this opinion 14 years ago when we lived in Poland, though a Slavic people, the Russians have this Asian element to their personality, strange and exotic all in one.

We had dinner at Herzl which is part of the Goldener Hirsh (golden stag) Hotel in Salzburg, excellent cuisine in a Tyrol style restaurant, Herzl has been around for at least 100 years and the quality is tops.
The cuisine is Austrian favourite dishes.

Upon returning to the Bristol we decided to go to the Sketch Bar to wait for the guests returning from this evening performance of Norma to compare notes on what they saw. It was great fun to meet fellow Festival goers and talk about what we had seen in the last 2 days. Tomorrow Monday is the last day of the Festival, we have 3 concerts to attend.

The program for the Festival 2014 is out and it will be a Rossini Festival with all the big opera names you can possibly imagine coming to Salzburg, I was incredulous just reading the list of opera stars who will be here. We are already planning next year.



     

Innsbruck to Salzburg with OBB train EC 165

Today the skies cleared in Innsbruck and the mountains all appeared, the Hungerburg is way up there and can be reached by cable car, from the city it looks tiny and I wonder how cold it must be up way up there, but the view also of the surrounding countryside must be spectacular. On the platform of the Train Station we can see the Alpine ski jump used for international competitions. On our journey I note that the pine trees on the mountain slopes look like green penguins, all huddled together with a dusting of snow. Little churches, small Alpine villages, old castles dot the countryside, it certainly has a pristine quality.

To get to Salzburg from Innsbruck we will have to pass through Germany at some point en route and then re-enter Austria to arrive at Salzburg.

Though Will had said no more buying of Tyrolean clothes, he did manage to buy himself this morning a shirt, a tie and a very nice yak and lambs wool sweater with an Elk stitched on the front. There are many stores where you can buy Tyrolean fashion, one good place is the Tiroler Heimat Werk, see www.tiroler.heimatwerk.at

They also have all manner of things for the house in terms of Tyrolean articles, all good quality.

The sunshine is really pleasant and makes for an interesting contrast between the deep green of the pine trees and the snow peaks. We will arrive at 16:00, tonight there is nothing on the program. So we will probably have dinner in town. We just past Kufstein with its big fortress castle just above the train station. This is not an urban landscape it’s rural, snowy fields, mountains, trees and a few houses. Suddenly a ring on the cel phone to announce that we have just crossed the border into Germany, next Bavarian blue and white checkered flags.

A side note, I discovered when I was learning Italian that Munich in Italian is called Monaco di Bavaria or Monaco, that can be confusing because I would think of Monaco the Principality not Munich Bavaria. On our way to Innsbruck the train’s  final destination was Munich and it was announced as Monaco di Bavaria in Italian.

On our trip today we past many lakes and rivers, mountain torrents, none are frozen despite the snow all around us. It has not been cold enough consistently for anything to freeze.

In Salzburg we are staying at the family owned Bristol Hotel, which is one of three landmark hotels in that city.

It was established in 1900 and has been owned by only two families since. It was the favourite hotel of Sigmund Freud amongst many famous guests. We are waiting to see who has replaced Gunther our favourite Barman at the Sketch Bar of the Bristol. He told us he was leaving when we were there in May. He was going to Butler school in Amsterdam. He really was the perfect old style barman, knew every cocktail, knew how to mix them, would listen to the clients, put them at ease. Nothing was ever too difficult, always ready to accommodate. I know that the family was aware of how valuable he was to them, as he attracted returning customers. Will have to see who replaced him.

Across the street is the other hotel the Sacher, owned by the same family who owns the famous Sacher Hotel in Vienna, it use to be called the Österreicher Hof Hotel, both hotels are just a few meters away from the river and central to the concert halls and other activities.

During our final leg of this train trip in Germany, we go through forests surrounded by mountains and then as we re-enter Austria a more semi-urban landscape. The Austrian Railway OBB has in recent years rebuilt and modernized all train stations, making them a hub for train and bus travel. Salzburg Station has been going through a massive rebuilding program and it was still not quite finished when we were there last in May 2010.

A shopping mall and an hotel are often part of the Train Station geared towards the traveling public but also citizens of the city, a hub in other words. I often wish the Government in Canada would adopt this approach.   

This morning off to Salzburg

We left our hotel by St-Stephen’s Cathedral and made our way towards to West Bahnhof of Vienna, the city has several train stations, all large, depending on your destination in Europe.

Since shops and businesses open around 10 am in Vienna, it was a rapid taxi ride to the train station about 15 minutes away from our hotel. The West Bahnhof is currently undergoing a complete rebuilding. We are on the Austrian Federal Railway train or OBB rail Jet which arrives from Budapest and stops 3 minutes in Vienna, just enough time for people to get on and off and now we are going towards Linz, then Salzburg our destination. The train itself will continue onwards to Munich. The trip is about 2:30 hours. The train is very clean and quiet, though again full of passengers. This being a long Pentecost weekend in Austria lots of people travel. We go through dark forests, little towns, we see valleys and hills, everywhere dark green the predominant colour and Alpine peaks, everything is very picturesque. The train is going 202 km per hour,
in first class, the seats are leather and there is lots of leg room, very comfortable with meal service at your seat or in the car restaurant, they have a wide menu of food and drinks. We go through several villages like Pukersdorf, Pressbaum, Eichgraben, Neulengbach, Böheimkirchen on our way to the first stop St-Pölten.
In the station in St-Pölten we see car loads of freshly cut pine wood logs . Here too the train station has been re-built and modernize but in keeping with the town Alpine look.
The infrastructure in general in Austria is very good and modern.

It reminds me that the Danube river in Germany and Austria has been canalized some decades ago with a series of locks, allowing ships to bypass the rapids and waterfalls of the river Danube, as it rushes down as a torrent from the mountains in southern Germany across europe and towards the Balkan. So the Danube that you see in Vienna proper is the old river, nowadays the canalized version open to shipping is on the outskirts by the Prater Garden.

Now on our way to Linz, we pass by Melk, there is a beautiful abbey and castle here, all done in Austrian Baroque, looks a lot like pastry and marzipan decoration with white icing and lots of gold leaf. More little villages, Golling an der Erlauf, Neumark an der Ybbs, Blidenmarkt, Amstetten, Aschbach Markt, St-Peter in der Au, St-Valentin. At this point we are in a wide valley and to our right is the border with Czech Republic further ahead is the border with Germany. All along since Vienna we have more or less followed the Danube river.

Now Linz on the Danube, the composer Anton Bruckner lived here. Otherwise it is an industrial centre, not much of a tourist spot.

We are now just one hour away from our destination. Arriving in Salzburg the multi-year total reconstruction of the railway station is only 60% complete, the new part is modern and quite beautiful, once completed it will be a spectacular port of entry to Salzburg.

The weather unfortunately is cold around 16C and cloudy, some rain tonite. We arrive at the Bristol Hotel, at our request the management gave us the same room as last year. We then go to Café Bazaar for lunch, love this place, good food and friendly service, has not changed since 1920, beautiful cherry wood paneling on the walls and bevelled glass windows overlooking the river.

Planning our Spring vacation

Well, it seems my cold is done and I will be able to return to work tomorrow. I have been thinking of buying a new car, not really an extravagance, I buy one every 10 yrs on average, car companies are not making money with me. I could never understand people who change cars every year or every 2 yrs. This time I am looking at either a VW Passat or a BMW series 3. I did look at the Series 7 but at $100,000 dllrs it is a little out of my league. But it is a very nice car, you know the sort you need a chauffeur.
I can go an pick it up at the factory directly when it is ready. Anyway will continue to think about it and see.

We have to plan our trip to Sicily this Spring, we are thinking of visiting Palermo, Cefalu, Monreale, Marsala and then in May to the Festival of Neapolitan Music in Salzburg, Austria. The festival see the website www.salzburgerfestspiele.at gives all the details. Maestro Riccardo Muti is the director, the theme of the Festival is Naples City of Memories. Last year on the return trip we stopped in Trieste on the Dalmatian coast, this year we are thinking of Padua. Our hotel is reserved in Salzburg, the same as last year.

I also made arrangements today for the puppies to go to the countryside during our trip to Sicily. They can return to the Farm and see their moms and dads and brothers and sisters in Capena, next door is their trainor Lisa so they can also train while in the Paese. As Will says, they will be the best trained puppies or we give them to the Gypsies, it does not impress them at all.

It is shaping up!