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Published: August 8th 2006
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Geburtshaus
Mozart's Birthplace Grüss Gott!
In my last entry I talked about Salzburg and a little bit of its history and all that. I’ll talk a little bit more about what I’ve been doing since I got here!
The first week was spent auditioning for the teachers and deciding which voice teacher would take which student. We had to pick a 1, 2, and 3rd choice and then after we auditioned, they somehow divided us up based on those choices. Really I think it was just a ploy to be able to hear everyone that was in the program. Either way, we sang. Let’s see, I am studying with Mary Schiller who is a professor at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She’s very good and I’m glad to be working for her. She has also asked me to study with her for my masters, but we will see what I want to do in a few months. We all have a German language course that is part of the curriculum for the 5 weeks that we are here. Every day for an hour and a half, I take German with this adorable Austrian woman and we are learning sooo much! My
getriedegasse
Shopping street! friend who is in the Advanced class says that we are learning what she is learning right now and I’m in the Beginning I class. All this practical application is helping I suppose. After German class, we have a home cooked meal by Brigytte, who basically is on staff at the college to cook for us. We’ve had anything ranging from fish to Schnitzel to Spaghetti. There is always an incredible dessert as well. Following German class we have some free time, which is usually spent at a café getting some coffee or souvenir shopping, or checking my email and making some phone calls, at early hours of the morning, to Cameron.
We then have a masterclass which is either taught by one of the teachers or they bring in some performers or coaches that are here in Austria. Some of those who have been really amazing are Wolfram Rieger, (who has worked with performers such as Barbara Bonney, and works with a company in Germany, I believe), Helen Donath (who is a native Texan and is performing the role of Despina from Cosi fan Tutte at the festival this season. She was amazing and truly an inspiration
for any performer because she is 60+ years old, still performing and has been married to the same man for 41 years… there is hope!) and 3 performers from the production of Die Zauberflöte, Simon O’Niel, Paul Groves (studied at LSU and was performing the lead tenor role), and this Russian soprano.. can’t remember her name. Anyways, they had some valuable information and also some that was a little bit discouraging. Simon is married and only sees his wife 3 months out of the year… nien danke!
Of course the first week, we did A LOT of walking around the city and exploring as much as we could. The Getreidegasse has become our friend. It’s the main shopping street and has stored ranging from Louis Vuiton to cute souvenir shops. There is also a McDonalds there that serves beer (of course), the burger royal, and tiramisu. I fell down the stairs there, so I don’t feel the need to go back after experiencing it once. An interesting fact about Salzburg, the drink Red Bull began here and the man who invented it owns this very chic restaurant, Carpe Diem, on the Getreidegasse that is all finger food. Nothing
is served on a plate rather in a tube or weird things like that. I haven’t been yet, but I’m looking forward to going this Sunday. I’ll let you know how that goes.
This is a picture of the Getreidegasse. It is a very old street an was where the local merchants would have had stores. The Iron signs would have been the typical business sign for the early Salzburgers and the whole town still keeps to that tradition. The signs are always very elaborate and beautiful. Even the McDonalds has a sign!
This picture is of the Festspiel house, which is where a majority of the operas are held. There are four houses in this strip. And if you are really nosy, you can stand out here opening night of the opera and try and see a few big names. One person said they saw Jude Law. Too bad I didn’t!
I mentioned how big Mozart is here in Salzburg and the truth is that Mozart really was only born here. Apparantly, Mozart is quoted to have said things about Salzburgers not appreciating modern music and the archbishop did not like his music, which is why he moved to Vienna and lived there mainly. However, Salzburg thrives off of its marketing of Mozart. They have Mozart everything. Mozart chocolate, Mozart ice cream, Mozart coffee, Mozart umbrellas, Mozart liquer… everything literally is Mozart. I hope to bring back some of the original Mozartkudel because they are delicious! Here is Mozart’s Geburtshaus or Birthhouse. Nothing special, but it is in the middle of the Getreidegasse so there are always a million people around it. I was lucky not to get trampled while taking this picture!
And with that I think I’ll have to tell you about the rest of my trip another day. I have some German homework to attend too.
Tchüss!
Kristen
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Brandelle
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Hey, I was searching through websites, and I am an American living here in Salzburg, Austria for 4 weeks... I too am in the German classes in the Old Town... how funny, I have probably seen you at one point! I hope your are enjoying Salzburg!