Trip Report: Vienna (plus Bratislava)
in [Europe]
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From: David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate on 13 Dec 2006 19:11 Padraig Breathnach <padraigb(a)MUNGEDiol.ie> wrote: > this_address_is_for_spam(a)yahoo.co.uk (David Horne, _the_ chancellor of > the royal duchy of city south and deansgate) wrote: [] > >Interesting what you say about English not being spoken much in > >restaurants. My german is fine for small talk and restaurant menus, but > >I found that in most of the places in the centre, they'd talk English to > >us when they realised my partner didn't speak any German. The exception > >was small cafes where we often had the lunch specials. > > > Our hotel was outside the ring (only one U-bahn stop out) and was not > in prime tourist territory. The restaurants where they were not strong > in English were in that neighbourhood. That would probably make sense then. The cafes where no english was spoken (one next to the Freud house, now I think about it) were not in the very centre either. > > >Did I miss it, or did you not visit the KHM? It's a major collection, > >but maybe not your thing? Like you, I enjoyed the collection at the > >Belvedere. My favourite museum is probably the Leopold though- which is > >quite unique in its holdings of Schiele, Klimt, Kokoschka and so on. > > > The KHM did not rise high enough on my list of interests to get done > on a short visit. I suppose once you've seen one Hapsburg art depository, you've seen them all! :) It was our first stop, because it was raining, and more than filled an afternoon. Actually, we consciously avoided some of the exhibits, as we knew we'd get overloaded. > >For myself, I'd skip the touristy concerts- you'll get better quality at > >a free concert in a conservatory almost anywhere- but, if you enjoyed it > >(and plenty people do) that's all that matters IMO. > > > Touristy concerts are good enough for me. I don't have a very great > interest in music, whereas you have. I would have liked to get a bit > beyond the greatest hits of Mozart and Strauss, though. You won't get that with the touristy stuff, I'm afraid! I was there in July, which is really dead for such a great music city. You'd probably have enjoyed, say, a Mahler symphony, or some such, if it had been programmed when you were there. It wouldn't have been more expensive either. As I said, if you enjoy it, you enjoy it, but the tourist concerts employ students or low-notch professionals, and it's very much about maximising profit. If you go to the symphony, you're getting high quality and publicly subsidised performances. The tourist stuff has its place though- and I've enjoyed many a show which someone with more knowledge about (Hungarian dancing in Budapest comes to mind) might have sniffed at. > I wonder if you, as a specialist, would have been as impressed with > the busker pianist as I was. Herself, more knowledgeable about piano > than I am, was very impressed. If it was anything like the woman photographed in the picture about half way down at- http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer/PhotoAlbum13.html then no! :) I found the piano in the adjacent picture more impressive! I'm a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to buskers- regardless of genre, I usually find them offensively bad. I remember some accordianists in Krakow who I thought were pretty good though. -- David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk http://www.davidhorne.net/pictures.html http://soundjunction.org
From: Padraig Breathnach on 13 Dec 2006 19:23 this_address_is_for_spam(a)yahoo.co.uk (David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate) wrote: >Padraig Breathnach <padraigb(a)MUNGEDiol.ie> wrote: > >> I wonder if you, as a specialist, would have been as impressed with >> the busker pianist as I was. Herself, more knowledgeable about piano >> than I am, was very impressed. > >If it was anything like the woman photographed in the picture about half >way down at- > >http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer/PhotoAlbum13.html > >then no! :) > >I found the piano in the adjacent picture more impressive! I'm a bit of >a curmudgeon when it comes to buskers- regardless of genre, I usually >find them offensively bad. I remember some accordianists in Krakow who I >thought were pretty good though. You suffer one of the great disadvantages of being a specialist: pretty good doesn't impress you. I felt it was worth my while standing out of doors on a cold November evening to listen to her. -- PB The return address has been MUNGED My travel writing: http://www.iol.ie/~draoi/
From: David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate on 13 Dec 2006 19:28 Padraig Breathnach <padraigb(a)MUNGEDiol.ie> wrote: > this_address_is_for_spam(a)yahoo.co.uk (David Horne, _the_ chancellor of > the royal duchy of city south and deansgate) wrote: > > >Padraig Breathnach <padraigb(a)MUNGEDiol.ie> wrote: > > > >> I wonder if you, as a specialist, would have been as impressed with > >> the busker pianist as I was. Herself, more knowledgeable about piano > >> than I am, was very impressed. > > > >If it was anything like the woman photographed in the picture about half > >way down at- > > > >http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer/PhotoAlbum13.html > > > >then no! :) > > > >I found the piano in the adjacent picture more impressive! I'm a bit of > >a curmudgeon when it comes to buskers- regardless of genre, I usually > >find them offensively bad. I remember some accordianists in Krakow who I > >thought were pretty good though. > > You suffer one of the great disadvantages of being a specialist: > pretty good doesn't impress you. I felt it was worth my while standing > out of doors on a cold November evening to listen to her. Was it the same person then? -- David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk http://www.davidhorne.net/pictures.html http://soundjunction.org
From: Padraig Breathnach on 13 Dec 2006 19:30 this_address_is_for_spam(a)yahoo.co.uk (David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate) wrote: >Padraig Breathnach <padraigb(a)MUNGEDiol.ie> wrote: > >> this_address_is_for_spam(a)yahoo.co.uk (David Horne, _the_ chancellor of >> the royal duchy of city south and deansgate) wrote: >> >> >If it was anything like the woman photographed in the picture about half >> >way down at- >> > >> >http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer/PhotoAlbum13.html >> > >> >then no! :) >> > >> >I found the piano in the adjacent picture more impressive! I'm a bit of >> >a curmudgeon when it comes to buskers- regardless of genre, I usually >> >find them offensively bad. I remember some accordianists in Krakow who I >> >thought were pretty good though. >> >> You suffer one of the great disadvantages of being a specialist: >> pretty good doesn't impress you. I felt it was worth my while standing >> out of doors on a cold November evening to listen to her. > >Was it the same person then? So far as I can judge -- the hair obscures the face. The location looks like Graben. Was she Japanese in appearance? -- PB The return address has been MUNGED My travel writing: http://www.iol.ie/~draoi/
From: David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate on 13 Dec 2006 19:35
Padraig Breathnach <padraigb(a)MUNGEDiol.ie> wrote: > this_address_is_for_spam(a)yahoo.co.uk (David Horne, _the_ chancellor of > the royal duchy of city south and deansgate) wrote: > > >Padraig Breathnach <padraigb(a)MUNGEDiol.ie> wrote: > > > >> this_address_is_for_spam(a)yahoo.co.uk (David Horne, _the_ chancellor of > >> the royal duchy of city south and deansgate) wrote: > >> > >> >If it was anything like the woman photographed in the picture about half > >> >way down at- > >> > > >> >http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer/PhotoAlbum13.html > >> > > >> >then no! :) > >> > > >> >I found the piano in the adjacent picture more impressive! I'm a bit of > >> >a curmudgeon when it comes to buskers- regardless of genre, I usually > >> >find them offensively bad. I remember some accordianists in Krakow who I > >> >thought were pretty good though. > >> > >> You suffer one of the great disadvantages of being a specialist: > >> pretty good doesn't impress you. I felt it was worth my while standing > >> out of doors on a cold November evening to listen to her. > > > >Was it the same person then? > > So far as I can judge -- the hair obscures the face. The location > looks like Graben. Was she Japanese in appearance? Yes, and you're right that the hair does obscure the face a bit. Probably the same person! When I heard her she was playing Liszt ("Liebesraume") and Chopin (Fantasy Impromptu.) It was all a bit rough, but hey, as you see in the pictures, plenty people stopped to listen, and that's all fine as far as I'm concerned. If she's still perservering in all weather, more power to her. I took the pic, because I rather admired the perserverence in trundling the upright into the middle of the street. Perhaps not unsurprisingly, the piano was really out of tune- almost 'honky-tonk.' -- David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk http://www.davidhorne.net/pictures.html http://soundjunction.org |