Vienna, Day 15: Mahler

Montag, 28 Jänner

Today started out normally, with my daily oatmeal, and proceeded quite uneventfully until I came across some interesting landmarks on the way to my first internship meeting:

Cafe Schrodinger.... wonder if his cat is inside?

Undoubtedly, though, the highlight of my day was the Königliches Concertgebouworchester Amsterdam's performance of Bartok's Violin Concerto No. 2 and Mahler's Symphony No. 1. I arrived rather flustered, later than I anticipated after a wrong turn, and soon discovered there were no more standing room tickets left. However, there were tickets on stage with the orchestra for the decent price of 25 Euro. I took it, and I found myself right behind the trombones, listening to one of the best performances I've ever attended. The clarity of the hall was incredible, even from behind the orchestra. I could hear every woodwind solo, every note of the violin soloist, Leonidas Kavakos (who I saw perform at Cornell two years ago; how funny?), and this unbelievable, enveloping bass section sound (plus tuba in Mahler). What's more, is I got to walk by the orchestra members as they warmed up back stage, and even ran into the conductor after an unheard of standing-ovation at the Musikverin. Beyond words, really.

Before the players....

Noticed this as I waited for the concert to start... now what do hobos play?

And after the performance. Unheard of standing ovation, which lasted around 10 minutes.