Viennese Romance

I cannot stop reminiscing about Vienna and all of its beauty after watching the 2010 New Year's Concert video... For me, Vienna is like the jewel on an exquisite crown - perfectly elegant, and as the Chinese adage goes, "paints the eyes of the dragon."

I have combined these gorgeous short clips from Vienna's New Year Concerts with some lovely paintings which I find to be emanating the same fragrance and aura.





Franz Xavier Winterhalter, L'Impératrice Eugénie et ses dames de compagnies (The Empress Eugénie Surrounded by Her Ladies in Waiting), 1855, Château de Compiègne. Taking its inspiration from 18th-century bucolic scenes, this monumental composition sets the sovereign and her entourage against the backdrop of a shady clearing in a forest. However, the composition is very artificial and formal. The empress, slightly to the left of center, is encircled by and dominates the group. {via Wikipedia}

Franz Xavier Winterhalter, Elisabeth of Bavaria, Empress of Austria, with Diamond Stars on Her Hair, 1865, Hofburg, Vienna.

Gustav Klimt, Portrait of Mada Primavesi, 1912.





(*All paintings below by Edgar Degas)

Schönberg's Gurrelieder (makes me faint)

I have fallen in love with Gurrelieder after attending Philharmonia Orchestra's opening gala concert to The City of Dreams: Vienna 1900~1935 series, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen -- magnificently intense, dazzlingly powerful, heartrendingly beautiful, with delicately tender moments of love. It is likely one of the best concerts I have ever had the pleasure of attending.

The video below is a recording of German Symphony Orchestra (RSO) Berlin's rendition of Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, conducted by Riccardo Chailly, with Susan Dunn as Tove, Brigitte Fassbaender as Waldtaube, Siegfried Jerusalem as Waldemar, Herman Becht as Klaus-Narr, and Hans Hotter as the peasant Sprecher.

Valentine's in the Arctic City of Dreams

Some snapshots taken during my previous trip to gorgeous Vienna in February, a city that is very quickly wining my heart over. I cannot wait for my next visit at the end of this month.

And here is an absolutely delightful and informative website created for Philharmonia Orchestra's Vienna 1900-1935: City of Dreams series, the first project with conductor and artistic director Esa-Pekka Salonen.