Gay Thursday & Sleepy Friday
Ok, Thursday wasn't THAT gay, although Thursday night sure was...but first things first.
German was normal....I had some time after it and before Classical Symphony, and I just sort of putzed around taking pictures of the institute for the presentation I'm making for Dr. Scheier. The latter class was sooooo boring....I thought I was going to die. After that I went home, got a few things and went back to talk to Dr. Scheier about the presentation. (he liked it, I think....and it's really almost done...) After that I went to work at the library, which was fun. I was working with Ann, who's really really cool. (she's also one of the best vocalists in the program.....) We listened to Der Rosenkavalier and had kebaps....it was awesome! After that I went home, and shortly after I got back my friends Natalie and Naomi from upstairs stopped by to borrow the next Sex and the City DVD, so I went up and watched 4 episodes with them......which was a real gay time. After that I was really hyper, and when I went down back to my place Brad invited me to come out with him to this club called U4, so I thought I might as well, since I've never really gone to a club, and certainly not here in Vienna. Well, on our way there (we took the U4 subway line...coincidence? of course not...) he mentioned that he was going because it was gay night. So, instantly my expectations rose tremendously...I mean, what could be funnier than gay night at an Austrian club?? Let's just say that it far exceeded my expectations of hilarity.....anyway, we paid the cover of €8 and headed downstairs to the source of the ear-splitting music. Basically we walked into this small room (probably the size of my apartment, or maybe slightly bigger) with TONS of men (who looked just like all the other European men, really....maybe a bit more makeup in some cases....) dancing to the gayest music I've heard....."Girls just wanna have fun," and some other Cyndi Lauper is all I can remember......it just so happened that fellow IES students Dwayne (he goes by Du-nay, but I don't know how to spell it) Adam, and three other girls (whose names I didn't know) were there too. After Brad finished his €5 gin and tonic, we headed over there. After they danced about 7 or 10 minutes (I watched from the cigarette corner) we realized that the room we were in was a small annex of the club proper, which was on the other side of the staircase, so we quit the small room with horrible gay techno for a MUCH larger room with a huge bar (with VERY cute shirtless bartenders....I'm sure you all really want to hear about this....) and a very large dance floor and good techno music. We were there for a few hours....I only danced for a grand total of maybe 30 minutes. The rest of the time I sat and watched the goings-on....it was actually way tamer than I expected, and Brad re-affirmed that it is way tamer than gay clubs in the states (and he's from the midwest...) People were dancing, but they weren't really touching each other very much....it was interesting. I suppose the Austrian personal-space-bubble rules apply to a certain degree even in the clubs....the whole experience was cool, and the people-watching was unbelievably fantastic. They had hired a drag queen walking around and sell cigarettes....it was possibly the high point of the evening. After that we took a cab home (Brad was too chicken to take the night bus, despite my reassurances....) and I slept SO soundly.....it was fun, but next time I'm having at least one drink before I go out....being in a club sober seems to only make the music seem louder and the room smokier and dirtier.
This morning I woke up at about 11 and went shopping at the Merkur, where (once again) I forgot to bring change for the shopping cart. (I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but at every supermarket except Hofer - how we love thee - you have to put a €1 or €2 coin in the shopping cart to get it out, and then when you snap it back in place it gives you the change back....problem is, I always forget to bring a coin...) There's a few things that I get at Hofer, such as chocolate wafers (their brand is better and cheaper than the normal cheap brand of everything, Clever) yogurt (only €.25 per medium-sized serving), pasta, and other miscellaneous things which are significantly cheaper there than at other places, or things where I don't need a name brand. (like mineral water....I can only justify paying less than €.30 for 2 liters of mineral water, and really it's all the same when it's mixed with apple juice, which is my drink of choice...) Everything else I buy at Merkur 'cause it's cheaper and the have EVERYTHING. So, not having a cart makes it difficult to make large purchases, but I did manage to carry all my purchases throughout the store: a huge loaf of good bread, another loaf of sliced white "American Toast" bread, 2 6-packs of Kielbasa, 2 packs of sliced ham, some sliced cheese (which was disgusting, I later found out), a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi Lite (which is so good here....I daresay better than the Coke, and cheaper) and a small bundt cake. Of course, as I was checking out I got a craving for Milka (really good chocolate) but I couldn't find it, so I was wandering around the store for about 5 minutes with all my crap in my arms....I must have looked pretty funny. Finally I checked out and left, which was such a relief to my tired arms from being kept in that funny position. After getting home I made myself a quick lunch and dashed to Schönbrunner Straße,* where I put in a good 45 minutes of practicing in preparation for my coaching appointment with Russell this afternoon. Afterwards I went to IES to check my mail and make copies of the music for Russell, and then had my coaching session with him. I sang the stuff that he assigned to me for the workshop: a duet by Lehár called "Meine Liebe, Deine Liebe" which is the cheesiest thing imaginable (there's even a dance section....I don't even want to think about it....) and a Brahms duet called "Jägerlied," which is kind of depressing. Neither is particularly challenging vocally, but they present their stylistic and interpretive difficulties. For instance, the Lehár has a very simple melody that basically just eighth notes, but the Viennese operetta style in which it was written requires all sorts of tempo variation to enhance melodic interest and important words in order to make it more interesting (which Russell explained to me). It was a good session, and I learned a lot. Afterwards I asked him there were any conducting opportunities for me in the workshop (Kira is conducting a Bach motet, and I thought somehow she was specifically chosen or something....apparently she just asked to do it and they assigned her singers....) and we talked about possibilities.......I mentioned that I have a good background in early music, and it might be interesting to do something along those lines....of course, everyone here is trained for opera and lied and the like, but I'm hoping there might be some who are interested.....we talked at length about possibilities, such as the Schutz Musikalische Exequien or Weihnacthshistorie, or something by Palestrina. Hopefully this will bear fruit....if not, no biggie. I can wait until I get back, I suppose....
After my meeting with Russell I rushed back home to meet a large group of people from my building who were going to see something at the Musikverein, and since I had not yet been I decided to accept when they invited me earlier this afternoon, because it sounded like a good concert and it would be a good way for me to figure out the system. Well, when I got home most of them had chickened out, but a few of us still decided to go: me, Dave, Natalie, Jess, and Carla set off for the 7:30 concert at about 6:15. On our way there, we realize that none of us have ever been to the Musikverein before, which made things a little more interesting! First, we got off the subway on the wrong side of the street, so we had to make a couple dangerous crossings to get to the building (I was nearly run over by a Straßenbahn) Second, we had no idea where to buy tickets, so we wandered around the building looking for the Kassa (cashier, or any place where you pay), and finally came out of the building via the artist's entrance to find Jeunesse, which I remembered was the place where Cory had said he had purchased his tickets. (the name struck me because, of course, it's French.....) We went in and asked about seats, but the guy said there were only Stehplatz left, so we each got a €5 Stehplatz ticket. After going back into the Musikverein proper, we stumbled into the Stehplatz line and just stayed there. Similar to the Staatsoper, you don't get a ticket for a specific place (like you do at the Met, for instance), but instead people line up before the show and when the ushers open the doors everybody runs and finds a good spot. Unlike the opera, however, the Stehplatz area (there is only one, on the orchestra level in the very back) is actually an area....there are no rows of railings, just the one in front to keep the rabble out of the expensive seats. We couldn't find places on the rail, so we stood behind the first 'row' of people in the center. Unfortunately I ended up directly in front of a pole, so I couldn't see the conductor or the piano soloist. Oh, of course, the program! I forgot....It was the Vienna Symphony conducted Jukka-Pekka Saraste. (maybe to be a famous orchestra conductor, I should change my name to Robert-Pekka Bolyard....) First was Brahms Piano Concert no. 1 in D minor, which was beautiful albeit disturbingly long. (the second movement was gorgeous, and the fugue entrance in the third movement was very cool) After that was a 20-minute-or-so intermission, followed by Tchaikowsky's Romeo and Juliet Overture and Fantasy and Ravel's Daphnis et Chloë. (I think that's how you spell it.....) Romeo and Juliet was fantastic, of course, and the Ravel (which I'd never heard before) was just gorgeous. There was one moment after a string of loud chords where the 3 or 4 flute parts enter with these ridiculously florid, soft runs while the strings hold chords....the effect was disturbing not only because there didn't seem to be any definite harmonic correlation between any of the parts, but also because it took me a long time to figure out which instruments were even producing the sounds.....it was such an ethereal, light, other-wordly sound. Like I said, gorgeous. And R&J, well it definitely gave me chills many many many times. During D&C I noticed that a bunch of people had left (probably after the Tchaikowsky) so I moved to a spot where I could see the conductor. Wow was he good! Such technique! He was so fluid and expressive, but he exhibited a noticeable economy in his gesture which was very effective....I wish now that I had moved earlier so I could seen him conduct more than the last half of D&C. Oh well.....after the concert we all went back home and I had Kielbasa and rice for dinner, and now (after writing for a long time) I'm going to bed!
* Dr. Scheier explained to me the rule about when "Straße" is it's own word in a street's name.....usually it's the last in the compound, like "Währingerstraße" or "Dürergasse" (Gasse is just a small street), but when the street is named after a village (Dorf) or large area (the palace of Schönbrunn) it becomes 2 words, i.e. "Schönbrunner Straße" and "Gumpendorfer Straße." Terribly interesting to you, I know, but I sure thought it was!
German was normal....I had some time after it and before Classical Symphony, and I just sort of putzed around taking pictures of the institute for the presentation I'm making for Dr. Scheier. The latter class was sooooo boring....I thought I was going to die. After that I went home, got a few things and went back to talk to Dr. Scheier about the presentation. (he liked it, I think....and it's really almost done...) After that I went to work at the library, which was fun. I was working with Ann, who's really really cool. (she's also one of the best vocalists in the program.....) We listened to Der Rosenkavalier and had kebaps....it was awesome! After that I went home, and shortly after I got back my friends Natalie and Naomi from upstairs stopped by to borrow the next Sex and the City DVD, so I went up and watched 4 episodes with them......which was a real gay time. After that I was really hyper, and when I went down back to my place Brad invited me to come out with him to this club called U4, so I thought I might as well, since I've never really gone to a club, and certainly not here in Vienna. Well, on our way there (we took the U4 subway line...coincidence? of course not...) he mentioned that he was going because it was gay night. So, instantly my expectations rose tremendously...I mean, what could be funnier than gay night at an Austrian club?? Let's just say that it far exceeded my expectations of hilarity.....anyway, we paid the cover of €8 and headed downstairs to the source of the ear-splitting music. Basically we walked into this small room (probably the size of my apartment, or maybe slightly bigger) with TONS of men (who looked just like all the other European men, really....maybe a bit more makeup in some cases....) dancing to the gayest music I've heard....."Girls just wanna have fun," and some other Cyndi Lauper is all I can remember......it just so happened that fellow IES students Dwayne (he goes by Du-nay, but I don't know how to spell it) Adam, and three other girls (whose names I didn't know) were there too. After Brad finished his €5 gin and tonic, we headed over there. After they danced about 7 or 10 minutes (I watched from the cigarette corner) we realized that the room we were in was a small annex of the club proper, which was on the other side of the staircase, so we quit the small room with horrible gay techno for a MUCH larger room with a huge bar (with VERY cute shirtless bartenders....I'm sure you all really want to hear about this....) and a very large dance floor and good techno music. We were there for a few hours....I only danced for a grand total of maybe 30 minutes. The rest of the time I sat and watched the goings-on....it was actually way tamer than I expected, and Brad re-affirmed that it is way tamer than gay clubs in the states (and he's from the midwest...) People were dancing, but they weren't really touching each other very much....it was interesting. I suppose the Austrian personal-space-bubble rules apply to a certain degree even in the clubs....the whole experience was cool, and the people-watching was unbelievably fantastic. They had hired a drag queen walking around and sell cigarettes....it was possibly the high point of the evening. After that we took a cab home (Brad was too chicken to take the night bus, despite my reassurances....) and I slept SO soundly.....it was fun, but next time I'm having at least one drink before I go out....being in a club sober seems to only make the music seem louder and the room smokier and dirtier.
This morning I woke up at about 11 and went shopping at the Merkur, where (once again) I forgot to bring change for the shopping cart. (I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but at every supermarket except Hofer - how we love thee - you have to put a €1 or €2 coin in the shopping cart to get it out, and then when you snap it back in place it gives you the change back....problem is, I always forget to bring a coin...) There's a few things that I get at Hofer, such as chocolate wafers (their brand is better and cheaper than the normal cheap brand of everything, Clever) yogurt (only €.25 per medium-sized serving), pasta, and other miscellaneous things which are significantly cheaper there than at other places, or things where I don't need a name brand. (like mineral water....I can only justify paying less than €.30 for 2 liters of mineral water, and really it's all the same when it's mixed with apple juice, which is my drink of choice...) Everything else I buy at Merkur 'cause it's cheaper and the have EVERYTHING. So, not having a cart makes it difficult to make large purchases, but I did manage to carry all my purchases throughout the store: a huge loaf of good bread, another loaf of sliced white "American Toast" bread, 2 6-packs of Kielbasa, 2 packs of sliced ham, some sliced cheese (which was disgusting, I later found out), a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi Lite (which is so good here....I daresay better than the Coke, and cheaper) and a small bundt cake. Of course, as I was checking out I got a craving for Milka (really good chocolate) but I couldn't find it, so I was wandering around the store for about 5 minutes with all my crap in my arms....I must have looked pretty funny. Finally I checked out and left, which was such a relief to my tired arms from being kept in that funny position. After getting home I made myself a quick lunch and dashed to Schönbrunner Straße,* where I put in a good 45 minutes of practicing in preparation for my coaching appointment with Russell this afternoon. Afterwards I went to IES to check my mail and make copies of the music for Russell, and then had my coaching session with him. I sang the stuff that he assigned to me for the workshop: a duet by Lehár called "Meine Liebe, Deine Liebe" which is the cheesiest thing imaginable (there's even a dance section....I don't even want to think about it....) and a Brahms duet called "Jägerlied," which is kind of depressing. Neither is particularly challenging vocally, but they present their stylistic and interpretive difficulties. For instance, the Lehár has a very simple melody that basically just eighth notes, but the Viennese operetta style in which it was written requires all sorts of tempo variation to enhance melodic interest and important words in order to make it more interesting (which Russell explained to me). It was a good session, and I learned a lot. Afterwards I asked him there were any conducting opportunities for me in the workshop (Kira is conducting a Bach motet, and I thought somehow she was specifically chosen or something....apparently she just asked to do it and they assigned her singers....) and we talked about possibilities.......I mentioned that I have a good background in early music, and it might be interesting to do something along those lines....of course, everyone here is trained for opera and lied and the like, but I'm hoping there might be some who are interested.....we talked at length about possibilities, such as the Schutz Musikalische Exequien or Weihnacthshistorie, or something by Palestrina. Hopefully this will bear fruit....if not, no biggie. I can wait until I get back, I suppose....
After my meeting with Russell I rushed back home to meet a large group of people from my building who were going to see something at the Musikverein, and since I had not yet been I decided to accept when they invited me earlier this afternoon, because it sounded like a good concert and it would be a good way for me to figure out the system. Well, when I got home most of them had chickened out, but a few of us still decided to go: me, Dave, Natalie, Jess, and Carla set off for the 7:30 concert at about 6:15. On our way there, we realize that none of us have ever been to the Musikverein before, which made things a little more interesting! First, we got off the subway on the wrong side of the street, so we had to make a couple dangerous crossings to get to the building (I was nearly run over by a Straßenbahn) Second, we had no idea where to buy tickets, so we wandered around the building looking for the Kassa (cashier, or any place where you pay), and finally came out of the building via the artist's entrance to find Jeunesse, which I remembered was the place where Cory had said he had purchased his tickets. (the name struck me because, of course, it's French.....) We went in and asked about seats, but the guy said there were only Stehplatz left, so we each got a €5 Stehplatz ticket. After going back into the Musikverein proper, we stumbled into the Stehplatz line and just stayed there. Similar to the Staatsoper, you don't get a ticket for a specific place (like you do at the Met, for instance), but instead people line up before the show and when the ushers open the doors everybody runs and finds a good spot. Unlike the opera, however, the Stehplatz area (there is only one, on the orchestra level in the very back) is actually an area....there are no rows of railings, just the one in front to keep the rabble out of the expensive seats. We couldn't find places on the rail, so we stood behind the first 'row' of people in the center. Unfortunately I ended up directly in front of a pole, so I couldn't see the conductor or the piano soloist. Oh, of course, the program! I forgot....It was the Vienna Symphony conducted Jukka-Pekka Saraste. (maybe to be a famous orchestra conductor, I should change my name to Robert-Pekka Bolyard....) First was Brahms Piano Concert no. 1 in D minor, which was beautiful albeit disturbingly long. (the second movement was gorgeous, and the fugue entrance in the third movement was very cool) After that was a 20-minute-or-so intermission, followed by Tchaikowsky's Romeo and Juliet Overture and Fantasy and Ravel's Daphnis et Chloë. (I think that's how you spell it.....) Romeo and Juliet was fantastic, of course, and the Ravel (which I'd never heard before) was just gorgeous. There was one moment after a string of loud chords where the 3 or 4 flute parts enter with these ridiculously florid, soft runs while the strings hold chords....the effect was disturbing not only because there didn't seem to be any definite harmonic correlation between any of the parts, but also because it took me a long time to figure out which instruments were even producing the sounds.....it was such an ethereal, light, other-wordly sound. Like I said, gorgeous. And R&J, well it definitely gave me chills many many many times. During D&C I noticed that a bunch of people had left (probably after the Tchaikowsky) so I moved to a spot where I could see the conductor. Wow was he good! Such technique! He was so fluid and expressive, but he exhibited a noticeable economy in his gesture which was very effective....I wish now that I had moved earlier so I could seen him conduct more than the last half of D&C. Oh well.....after the concert we all went back home and I had Kielbasa and rice for dinner, and now (after writing for a long time) I'm going to bed!
* Dr. Scheier explained to me the rule about when "Straße" is it's own word in a street's name.....usually it's the last in the compound, like "Währingerstraße" or "Dürergasse" (Gasse is just a small street), but when the street is named after a village (Dorf) or large area (the palace of Schönbrunn) it becomes 2 words, i.e. "Schönbrunner Straße" and "Gumpendorfer Straße." Terribly interesting to you, I know, but I sure thought it was!
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