Concert in the Mozarteum
Concert in the Mozarteum
(Report filed by Roger Samuel at 1:00 a.m., 4:00 p.m., June 29, Pacific time)
The Mozarteum
Tonight was our concert in the Mozarteum. The hall was beautiful and full! The man who organized the event said that Salzburgers are fussy, that they don't give standing ovations. But they did tonight. We got a standing ovation and bow after bow after bow after bow. I finally had to stop coming out. The acoustics of the Mozarteum are fabulous. The hall is truly beautiful. The students were very impressed with the gold on the walls and ceilings and the little cherubs on the ceilings playing instruments.
The Vivaldi Concerto for four violins was spectacular. Each of the soloists did a stunning job. Valerie Smith's solo in the Dvorak was breathtaking. When each of the sections stood to take their respective bows, the French horns got huge cheers! Three Russian students were in the audience and said that they were deeply moved. In addition, there were several students from El Camino College in Salzburg on a study program. An old friend of mine who was in Salzburg happened to see the flyers and he came.
We dedicated this concert to the memory of Dan Johnson's (violist) grandmother, Mary Pinyerd, who passed away in Redlands on the first day of our tour. This concert was a benefit organized by a local philanthropic group. The proceeds are going to a children's hospital in Katmandu. The organizer said that they made enough money on the concert to pay the salaries of four nurses for one year and that this was one of those rare occasions where you see Salzburgers and Americans having a good time together. He also said that this was the first time that the "Stars and Stripes" had been played in the Mozarteum since 1955, the end of the American occupation of Austria. It looks as if our tour is really helping to build a bridge of friendship between our countries.
After the concert, there was a reception in the garden behind the Mozarteum. They were planning to have punch for the reception, but Janet told them that she thought that the students would be quite hungry. So they ran out and bought 100 Big Macs. Also in the garden behind the Mozarteum is the house of Papageno, the character from Mozart's "Magic Flute." He's the one who calls birds with his magic flute. The students visited the house which has been preserved from Mozart's time.
Before the concert, the students toured Salzburg where they saw Mozart's birthplace and the Castle of the Archbishop, and they bought Mozart chocolate. Peter Chen lost a shoe jumping over a fence of the hotel. He wasn't able to find it so he came to dinner with just one shoe. Scott Yu was shopping and accidentally bumped into a little Viewmaster that dropped and broke, so he bought it. He was teased a lot for buying the story of Cinderella as a souvenir.
As you can tell, the tour is going great, and the students are doing great. You can be very proud of them.
Map of Salzburg area (Click on area you want to see)
International Mozart Foundation
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This page is maintained by Lewis Johnson. For questions or comments please write to lewis_johnson@eee.org.
