Music Nerd Heaven

So I don't know if you guys know this, but Vienna is kind of like the Mecca for music students. There are performances happening every single night in multiple concert halls and theaters. Music history was basically created here and there are so many places where you can go see where a certain composer lived or worked or performed and museums of music history or instruments. So obviously I am living the life over here. On Thursday night friends Kelsey and Bekah and I went to see the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra perform at Wiener Musikverein, a famous concert hall in Vienna just a few blocks from the Staatsoper. The concert hall is amazing and it looks like this:

It's funny because it is completely flat. There isn't a balcony except for one small strip around the entire concert hall. But the orchestra was absolutely amazing. It was conducted by Lorin Maazel, super famouns French conductor. They played an overture by Wagner, La Mer by Debussy, and Rite of Spring by Stravinsky. I loved them all and they were all played beautifully, but I have always loved Debussy and La Mer was so amazing. The concert in general was one of the best ones I've heard and definitely the best orchestra I've ever heard.

The next day in class Wolfgang took us on a walk around Vienna, mostly in the first district, to show us certain spots that were of interest. We saw a cafe where Mozart premiered a lot of chamber works, where Vivaldi died, and a couple of Beethoven's apartments that he lived in while in Vienna. He moved like 40 times so it was impossible to see them all, but this is one that he lived in for the longest: 

It was kind of sad to see the graffiti all around this really special place where some of the most amazing music was created. Other places that we saw, like where Mozart died, is now a department store, and it makes me sad that these really important places weren't appreciated for the history that they hold. However, most Viennese people really value music and when it is created, but they get used to seeing these amazing places and just take them for granted. I am lucky enough to be able to realize how cool it really is that these amazing musicians walked the streets that I am now walking and I hope that some of their genius can rub off on me while being here!