Vienna, Maria João and a city of culture.

Vienna from the air, May 2005 (Photo: Norwegianblogger 2005) 

This week I came back from Vienna after spending four days in this elegant city. It's obvious that this is a city where the rulers have been concerned about spending money on culture. There are magnificent buildings everywhere and at night they look even better with the lights. I'm impressed. I went with three friends and we had several cultural experiences. In my impression I have two highpoints: 1) the concert with jazz-artists Maria João and Mario Laginha at the Birdland jazz club in Vienna's Hilton hotel. Maria's voice and personality is extraordinary - there's not another word that covers it. In one minute she's like a bird, in the next a lion. She's like a thunderstorm and a Brazilian breeze, as Björk in one minute and as Ella Fitzgerald in the next. Not only in singing, but also in her expressions is she totally free at stage, loving every minute of it. Using her hands, dancing around stage, smiling, flirting and crying. She's so alive! Her musicians are the best and made the concert even better. After being sung into heaven we walked out of Birdland with a smile on our faces.


Maria João in Concert in Birdland Jazz Club, Vienna (Photo: Norwegianblogger May 2005) 

For me the next evening's concert in Musikverein was the opposite of the experience in Birdland. Musikverein is probably the most beautiful concert hall in the world, made famous through the broadcasting of the New Years Concert each year. There's no better place to enjoy a concert, and the hall lived up to its reputation. When you walk into this hall your expectations rise. In some ways I felt a little sad when the orchestra entered the stage. They were dressed in Mozart costumes and played Mozart on routine, short pieces of music without any plan or artistic integrity. It was all accompanied by hundreds of digital cameras and mobile phones clicking and flashing throughout the whole concert (among them mine). In some ways I felt a little surprised that this wonderful concert hall was used to a concert like this. One of my friends said it well when he compared it to a Disneyland show (I love Disneyland by the way, but Disneyland is Disneyland - and Vienna is Vienna). For my sake I said that the board of the Musikverein is guilty of cultural prostitution when they use this wonderful hall to a concert like this, but I guess that's a bit too much. To be able to enter this wonderful hall is great, and listening to any kind of music enhances the experience. Imagine the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in this hall - that would have been something!

My second highpoint was definitely the Kunsthistoriches Museum - probably one of the best art museums in the world! The house in itself was a work of art - and the collection is impressive. We spent hours in the museum, and even had time for an hour in the museum's café. The cakes where like a work of art as well.

All in all: Vienna is highly recommendable!