You won't get much posting from me for a couple of days. Yes, it actually takes two days to get to Salzburg from Mexico due to greatly curtailed flight schedules. I'm on a Lufthansa flight from Mexico City this evening that gets to Frankfurt tomorrow afternoon--that includes a seven-hour time zone change. I have to stay overnight in Frankfurt as there is no matching flight that day. Next morning is a short hop to Salzburg, landing at the W. A. Mozart airport.
Two years ago the festival sent my tickets to me via priority mail and I was anxious that they would even arrive. But they did. The new system is they send you the tickets in pdf format and you just print them out at home--a much better system! I have Friday and Saturday to settle into the apartment I rented for the duration and to figure out the best route to the concert halls. I also have to figure out where the various halls are. Last time I nearly missed a concert by confusing the Grosser Saal in the Mozarteum, which is used for student concerts with the Mozarteum Grosser Saal which is where the Salzburg Camerata plays. I know where the Grosses Festspielhaus is and the Haus für Mozart is right next to it, but I have to figure out where the Kollegienkirche is as that is where the first concert is on Sunday--devoted to chamber music by Morton Feldman. Other concerts are in the Felsenreitschule and I have no idea where that is. Lots of concert halls in Salzburg!
Also in the first week is a solo recital by Arkady Volodos who is rumored to be a terrific pianist, a Schoenberg chamber music concert featuring Pierrot Lunaire, Neither, Feldman's opera with text by Samuel Becket and Theodor Currentzis conducting Rameau. Where else would you find such rich diversity?
Here is Currentzis conducting Mozart with piano soloist Alexander Melnikov.
How's your German Bryan? The Friday and Saturday seems like not just learning where the halls are but for adjusting to a huge time change too! The Morton Feldman "Neither" opera would be fascinating (I expect) for me. About 5 years ago I saw a great (to me anyway) rendition of Pierrot Lunaire by the Yale Camerata, in a little basement hall with fabulous "singing" and even some informal conversation with the musicians afterwards. Bon Voyage!
ReplyDeleteNicht so schlecht! German is my fourth language and pretty bad these days as I never get to use it. But everyone in Germany with any exposure to the public speaks perfect English.
ReplyDeleteYes, seven hours difference. Sometimes it affects me more than others. Opportunities to hear a live performance of a Feldman opera or Pierrot Lunaire are rare as hen's teeth. I'm looking forward to it!