August 8
Reinventing Rococo exhibit at the Albertina
* A visit to the Albertina proved to be an interesting experience, as the main focus was who else but Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I didn’t particularly like the setup of the exhibit and I found the audio guide to be very lengthy. Part of the museum focused on Mozart and The Magic Flute, where there was a cool screening room of computer-generated scenes from the opera. The other portion of the upstairs area had an exhibit titled “Reinventing Rococo.” It was quite a strange and bizarre display of odd paintings, photographs, and artistically arranged objects. Since Rococo was an artistic style formed for the upper-class as a form of escapism and a way to reinforce people’s denial about existing problems among society, I can kind of see that being reflected in the weirdly distracting pieces in the museum. The downstairs portion was titled “Mozart and the Enlightenment,” but I thought there were too many things being displayed to make a coherent connection between the two subjects. In fact, there really weren’t many references to Mozart as much of what was displayed were books, pamphlets, and paintings of Enlightenment life, which in itself was rather sporadic. To sum it up, I didn’t feel like I learned anything that I hadn’t already known about Mozart or the Enlightenment, although I’ve never seen a crocodile wearing a wig. Now that was pretty great.
* I think something that you can find anywhere in large cities are street performers, both great entertaining ones and pitiful ones that you almost want to give money to just so they can stop humiliating themselves in public. I had the pleasure of watching some that belonged in the latter category during my time in Vienna. I don’t blame the city at all for this; I just think it’s unlucky. Stephansplatz is a breeding ground for this sort of activity, and walking through the area nearly every day it’s interesting to see the same people pulling the same tricks day after day while still drawing in the crowds. Can you really make a living doing this? I can appreciate it more when it’s something you can tell the person enjoys, like break-dancing or doing magic tricks, but standing still, in the summer, painted from head to toe in gold? It boggles me, especially the guy in Stephansplatz that makes monkey noises all day long. It’s impressive, but it’s also just plain stupid.
* A great gem that’s a bit hidden is the Haus der Musik. What a wonderful time! Anyplace that has a ‘Womb Room’ is good in my book. The best part of this museum is the fact that it’s very interactive. You can compose music at the roll of a dice, conduct an orchestra with a flip of a wand, listen to the sounds of everyday tasks (yes, even farting), play in the ‘Brain Opera’ room, and relax in the Mozart Lounge, just to name a few of the different things you can do here. On a side note, I think the Mozart Lounge should become a real place where you can order drinks and listen to trance/techno mixes of Mozart music. It would be fabulous. Anyhow, Haus der Musik also has one floor dedicated to Vienna’s great composers (Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Schubert, Haydn, and Mahler) each with their own room, decorated accordingly to their personality and era. My particular favorite, also because he is my favorite composer, was Strauss’ room. Since he is the ‘father of waltz’ there was a revolving dancing couple in the center, videos of dancing feet, and even a dancing pattern on the floor so you could learn to waltz yourself. We spent a whopping three hours here and had a blast the whole time. Haus der Musik definitely tops my list as coolest museum ever. Not only was it interactive and fun but it was also extremely informative with clear explanations and information about all sorts of topics.
* At the end of this long day, we decided to finish it off with a slice of the famous sacher torte at the Sacher Café. Only in a few other experiences have I felt more out of place. It is no surprise that the Sacher Café and the Sacher Hotel are classy places, so a group of young Americans dressed in very casual attire walking through the door felt just a tad awkward. It is a very quiet place and the atmosphere is subdued. The dessert was great, but we could feel people staring at us. We were well behaved and had great manners, but I guess there are some places in the world where you just don’t belong. I think this is one of them.
posted by lauREN @ 9/11/2006
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