Oh Vienna! Part 1

On my first trip to Vienna last week – Heaven only knows why it’s taken so long - I spent three days marvelling at the handsome Habsburg capital’s rich musical heritage.

Never mind the magnificence of the built environment – Vienna is a world-class city - or the divine legacy of key visual artists such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Otto Wagner, the Austrian capital is a strong contender for Music for Grown-Ups global HQ.

Everywhere you go, you’re reminded of its stature. Major venues abound – Musikverein … Konzerthaus … Staatsoper … Volksoper … And, round every corner you keep running into statues, squares, streets, plaques, and pavement memorials commemorating the great classical composers with roots in Vienna – Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, Beethoven, Mahler, Schoenberg … the list is almost endless. Only Bach is missing.

And that’s not to mention Music for Grown-Ups favourite, jazzer Joe Zawinul.

No city has more musical resonance: Oh Vienna, indeed.



Gerry Smith

(to be continued)