(first published in The Cincinnati Post Nov. 2, 2004)
VIENNA, Austria -- "Vienna, City of My Dreams," came true for many sleep-deprived members of the Cincinnati Symphony, who enjoyed a free day last Thursday, the first complete post-arrival day of their two-week tour of Europe.
The transatlantic flight turned into an ordeal for half of the orchestra, who spent 10 hours in Paris' Charles DeGaulle Airport after a late arrival from Cincinnati caused them to miss their connection to Vienna. For those who traveled via Frankfurt and arrived in Vienna as scheduled, there was no such strain, though the six hours lost en route made sleeping in at the hotel the next day an attractive option.
Perhaps the most famous musical city in the world, Vienna is a shrine for musicians. Accordingly, many in the CSO took the train into the city from their hotel in the suburbs (Hotel Trend Pyramide) to visit landmarks such as St. Stephen's Cathedral, Figaro Haus (where Mozart lived and composed his opera "The Marriage of Figaro"), the Vienna State Opera and Central Cemetery.
Violist Mark Cleghorn climbed the 343 steps to the top of St. Stephen's, where you can enjoy a breathtaking view of the city. Assistant concertmaster Eric Bates visited Central Cemetery where Vienna's musical giants are buried, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and members of the Strauss family, including Johann Strauss Jr. (Mozart lies in an unmarked grave somewhere in St. Mark's Cemetery, a trolley stop by the side of the road on the way to Central Cemetery.)
While browsing an antique shop in Vienna, members of the French horn section encountered wooden mouthpieces for the first time ("We all bought one," said Duane Dugger) and also met Karl Pheiffer, producer of a new horn patented in the Czech Republic. Pheiffer hosted them at his home in Vienna for the rest of the day and half of the next, sharing precious old recordings of great horn players and lots of horn talk.
Acting assistant principal Gene Berger bought one of the new horns, which with their smoother, more focused sound are well adapted to solo performance, said Dugger.
CSO librarian Mary Judge, spending the first time away from her five-year-old twins, bought them "Im Konzert" by Andrea Hoyer at the Vienna State Opera Shop, a lavishly illustrated picture book in which a cellist describes for his own young son how he spends his day as an orchestra musician. Judge was particularly delighted, she said, because one of the illustrations shows the librarian carrying the conductor's score to the podium. "They can see what mommy does," she said.
For others, shopping - or at least browsing - mean the sprawling Shopping Center Süd, largest shopping mall in Europe, directly across the street from the hotel. There were many familiar establishments, including Toys'R Us, and some very fashionable stores featuring European designed furniture and clothing.
Associate principal violist Paul Frankenfeld, who majored in music and German at Stanford University, not only translated for all comers but guided several of his fellow players to Figlmuller's restaurant (est. 1903), home of the the "finest wienerschnitzel in Vienna," he said. "Thin as paper, not too bready, cooked until neither under nor overdone and served with lemon."
Rather than seek out Austrian food, Judge and CSO public relations director Carrie Krysanick ate at the Casa Puebla Farmerhaus in the SCS mall where one could order such exotic dishes as filet of Zambesi crocodile, medallions of springbok, ostrich and kangaroo, Alaskan reindeer and Kentucky spareribs of milk-fed veal.
Some CSO players attended concerts or the opera (Verdi's "La Traviata,"which you missed if you were on the plane from Paris).
Assistant principal trombonist Lee Rogers headed for the casino in Vienna, where he won 150 euros (approx. $186.).
Weather was sunny and unusually warm for this time of year, a bit of Indian Summer on the Continent, requiring only a sweater or a light jacket.
The CSO heads north today by bus for Cologne, where they will perform at the Cologne Philharmonie. The program comprises Mahler's Symphony No. 5, "Aditus" by Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür and the Schumann Piano Concerto in A Minor with French pianist Helene Grimaud.
There is a current of excitement in the orchestra, generated by positive audience reaction everywhere they have performed with music director Paavo Järvi so far (Vienna, Frankfurt, Stuttgart). "We feel like we're playing better than we ever have," said violist Robert Howes. After Cologne, the orchestra returns to Frankfurt for another concert and a "run-out" to Mannheim, then it's on to Paris, Enschede (The Netherlands), Madrid and Barcelona.