Pictures from Wikivoyage which has the credits.
The grand oblong concert hall in Vienna, capital of Austria, is equally impressive when we return to watch more of the video on the BBC iplayer. This time I notice that the wine colour patterns on the sides of the banquettes around the hall are not paintings but tapestries - I can tell because of the fringes.
The music is captivating. The Tales From The Vienna Woods features a zither, an old instrument from China, which become popular in Austria in the 1850s. You may remember seeing and hearing it in the film The Third Man. The zither player is wearing a typical Austrian dress, the dirndl, with a low almost square neckline with the edges rounded off.
She plays the strings nearest her with a metal plectrum. The further strings are fixed pitch resonators.
The video leaves the hall and takes us off travelling across Austria, seeing the vineyards, lines with stakes.
Highlight of the second half is the ballet dancers. The men are wearing orange or red velvet suits. The suits contrast with the pink flowered dresses of the girls. I love the choreography. A girl reads a book and her partner takes it from her. They dance with the book. Two male dancers mock fight over a girl. How elegantly and fast they run up stairs on tiptoe and descend.
Back in the concert hall, we have our favourites amongst the players. A man with a cello is a real character, wearing glasses. We identify the violins, the larger violas with deeper tones, between the violins and cellos.
At the back of the hall are the double bass players, backs to the wall, each in an alcove created by the pilasters. The bass instruments look like they have been dragged around and scratched.
By contrast, the orange redwood bassoon is gleaming bright and looks brand new. Beside it is the player of a red redwood bassoon, lacquered giving it a shine.
Viennese waltzes are played with the stately Viennese lilt: one, two (pause) three. The effect is as if the music and the scene before you are gliding.
The music is calming and enlivening and uplifting. The commentary is educational, covering geography and history. This is the building where the man abdicated. I am off to read up on the Austro-Hungarian empire and the Bulgarian rulers. Seeing the lovely buildings where it all happened brings history to life.
The music is captivating. The Tales From The Vienna Woods features a zither, an old instrument from China, which become popular in Austria in the 1850s. You may remember seeing and hearing it in the film The Third Man. The zither player is wearing a typical Austrian dress, the dirndl, with a low almost square neckline with the edges rounded off.
She plays the strings nearest her with a metal plectrum. The further strings are fixed pitch resonators.
The video leaves the hall and takes us off travelling across Austria, seeing the vineyards, lines with stakes.
Highlight of the second half is the ballet dancers. The men are wearing orange or red velvet suits. The suits contrast with the pink flowered dresses of the girls. I love the choreography. A girl reads a book and her partner takes it from her. They dance with the book. Two male dancers mock fight over a girl. How elegantly and fast they run up stairs on tiptoe and descend.
Back in the concert hall, we have our favourites amongst the players. A man with a cello is a real character, wearing glasses. We identify the violins, the larger violas with deeper tones, between the violins and cellos.
At the back of the hall are the double bass players, backs to the wall, each in an alcove created by the pilasters. The bass instruments look like they have been dragged around and scratched.
By contrast, the orange redwood bassoon is gleaming bright and looks brand new. Beside it is the player of a red redwood bassoon, lacquered giving it a shine.
Viennese waltzes are played with the stately Viennese lilt: one, two (pause) three. The effect is as if the music and the scene before you are gliding.
The music is calming and enlivening and uplifting. The commentary is educational, covering geography and history. This is the building where the man abdicated. I am off to read up on the Austro-Hungarian empire and the Bulgarian rulers. Seeing the lovely buildings where it all happened brings history to life.
Useful Websites
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Austria
Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.
Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.
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