March, 2005 - Nr. 3
Vienna Connection
So, just as I promised last month to try and stay in touch
more, here I am back with another little adventure. It’s the holidays now,
and well, mine were kind of working holidays (although I really can’t call
my singing work, because even though it is a job, I just love to do it, and
I always think of work as something that you don’t necessarily like to do!).
I spent the last little while in the lovely little charming city of
Salzburg, where I got to spend my Birthday singing in Idomeneo on the
Grosses Festspielhaus Bühne, as a part of the Mozart Festwochen. How amazing
is that? I spent my birthday (of course wearing my festive Birthday pants,
courtesy of a great store called Naomi’s. For those interested, it’s the
booth in the Eaton Centre where they have all the really funky prints. You
can’t miss those pants and tops, they’re so cool! and all the people who
work at the booth wear the stuff. If you’ve ever been to the Eaton Centre in
the past few years then you’ll know what I’m talking about) thinking wow,
this is the life! Doing something I love, at one of the Musical Shrines of
the world, with some of the opera world’s biggest stars and a great young
conductor called Daniel Harding, whose orchestra made MAGIC!
The next project in Salzburg which followed Idomeneo was a piece called Lobgesang, by Felix Mendelssohn. Gorgeous music. I had a really great time doing this one. But what I most enjoyed about this project was where we were staying. About 5 of us were brought in from Vienna to participate in the project, and I was one of the lucky 3 (too bad for the other 2!) who got to stay in the place where the conductor (whom I’ve worked with a lot and was one of my teachers at the Uni last year) usually stays when his family comes along with him. It’s not in Salzburg direct, rather it’s in a town (or Dorf) called Kuchl, which is about a 20 minute drive outside of Salzburg, and can I please say that if you have a picture of Austria that includes snow-capped mountains, farms and BLUE skies, and at night, it’s so clear that you can see so many constellations of stars you never even knew existed, well, this place has it! We got to stay on a Bauernhof (or Farm). Actually, to be more precise, there’s a family of farmers who have a few houses (or Ferienwohnungen) for those who want the experience of staying on a farm. So the 3 of us "Wieners" (funny to me because none of us are actually originally from Vienna, but we were referred to by the "Salzburgers" as the "Wieners") got to share a lovely apartment on the farm.
Can I please say that if any of you are ever in the Salzburg area, PLEASE, don’t go in for a kitschy hotel like everyone else, please PLEASE go and have an experience like this one! First of all, the farmers (Familie Eßl-Moosbauer) were SO nice, and were kind of like grandparents. We met their grandchild and all went out in the Salzkammergut along with our conductor’s son to go sledding (or Rodeln) in the Mountains with old-fashioned wooden sleds...no Krazee Karpets here! During that time the 2 kids really enjoyed trying to bury me in snow. Of course me, being a big kid as well, had lots of fun with that, and I ended up having to take refuge in the Ski Chalet (the Alm) where the grandparents and the other 2 were inside eating some Brettljause (breads with cheese and meat and a not so hot pepper that the kids had fun eating) while the 2 kids were waiting at the door with big pieces of snow in their hands waiting for me to come out so we could continue our snowball fight!
Breakfasts were fresh-baked breads, homemade cheeses, milk,
and meats (and I met the animals so I can attest to the freshness!) all in
the farmer’s house, which was a beautiful traditional wooden house, with a
warm atmosphere, just like in the movies or for those of you who also had a
house like that at some point, I’m sure it would have reminded you of home!
There was a sauna for those who wanted to use it, and at night, the farmers
(Lisi and Peter) would sit with us for a little Stüberl, and they had really
great wines! I was a particular fan of the red...really nice and sweet. It
was a truly great time, and I wish it weren’t over. The music we made was
beautiful, and lots of fun was had. I made many new friends through singing,
and we will hopefully visit each other in both Salzburg and Vienna. Here I
went thinking that it was just going to be another singing job, but
it ended
up being so much more. Life has its wonderful little surprises sometimes! It
will certainly be a week I won’t soon forget. Wishing you all little lovely
surprises for 2005,
Caroline :)
P.S. if anyone is interested in staying on a farm in Austria, I highly recommend it. It’s so much more fun and personal than hotels. It may be a little out of the way, but the experience is so much more worthwhile. And attesting to this, the Eßl-Moosbauers are always booked up, and after my week, I certainly know why! you can also check them out on the web, just Google search! Happy Holiday planning!
Comments to: ckuehn@echoworld.com
