2017-07-09

【Aiden in English】

        The city of music. Home country to Mozart. The great invention of the waltz. Center of classical music. The résumé sounds nice, but I want to listen to something else. Something musical. Something amazing. A show. A show in the city Vienna, the center of classical music, the place where Mozart played, and the most important classical music position on earth.

        The Mozart and Strauss Concert held in Palais Auersperg slightly away from Musikverein, mom and I bought the tickets for an evening chamber concert performed by Vienna Residence Orchestra. The idea of chamber music is about music, and it usually is nothing like a chamber. However, because we arrived in Vienna out of season, the shows were not top of the line. Be frankly, I still don't understand the scale of musical performance ratings.

        Looking around, most of the audience was dressed up in tuxedos and fancy dresses. I wore shorts and a Nike shirt. But this concert was not a traditional, music concert with a serious tone. Upon entering the performance hall, I realized that this would be a casual evening because of the small room, low ceiling (by musical standards), and informal chairs.

        And I was right. The concert, which revolved Mozart and Strauss, at first glance seemed pretty much like a classical performance. In the playbill, which was very commercialized, and cost five euros, by the way, most of the songs were staples in concerts. Some, like the Turkish March and Voices of Spring, were popular and recognizable by me, whereas others are the songs I've heard once or twice. But the performance hall, if you even call it that, was mediocre, at best. The seats were mobile, cheap uncomfortable chairs, and the ceiling was so low. To normal folk, this isn't a problem. I, on the other hand, have been lectured many times on how low ceilings mean rebounding sound from wind instruments and percussion. Therefore, a lot of musical quality was thrown out the window.

        However, not everything was a disappointment. About a few songs though, the conductor began cracking some jokes, and the audience seemed to wake up from a slumber. Yes, there were operas, duets, and dancing, but when playing to older people, you've got to take an extra step to ensure full attention. Luckily, I was also intrigued. Certain cliché jokes aside, the performance was quite entertaining. From an elegant ballet duet to an amusing recorder solo, I chuckled many times during the show. And I silently thanked them for not using any instrumental puns; overusing them gets a bit flat.

【红霞译文】

        世界音乐之都、莫扎特的祖国、华尔兹发源地、古典音乐中心，履历表个个如雷贯耳，但我想要点别的，带有乐感、间或煽情、戏剧表演、维也纳式舞台艺术、古典音乐中心、莫扎特演奏的地方、世上备受推崇的音乐殿堂。

        莫扎特与斯特劳斯音乐晚会在奥尔斯佩格宫举行，它距离金色大厅很近，我和妈妈买好票打算见识一下常驻这里的维也纳首都乐团，室内乐是音乐的一种，通常跟其它任何演奏不同，不过由于我们来维也纳时已过了表演季节，因此音乐会水平大打折扣，说心里话，我还真搞不明白排名标准。

        环顾演奏厅四周，现场绝大多数观众穿的不是燕尾服就是连衣裙，而我短裤耐克衫便装在身，但严格来讲今晚音乐会并非正式，因为演奏厅不大，天花板又低，座位也欠讲究，所以刚一进入演奏大厅我便感觉出休闲的氛围。

        我说的没错，音乐会打着莫扎特和施特劳斯旗号，让人乍看上去多少感觉挺古典的，可实际上商业性极强，一份节目单价值五块欧元，多数曲目都是音乐会上喜闻乐见的作品，像《土耳其进行曲》和《春之声圆舞曲》早已家喻户晓，我也听得耳熟，只有个别曲目我偶尔听过一两回。如果够格称得上演奏厅的话，奥尔斯佩格宫音质实在不置可否，座位随处移动，椅子廉价极不舒服，再加上房顶低矮，在一般人眼里兴许没什么了不得，而对于受过训练的我来说，天花板高低关系到管乐器和打击乐器回声强弱，因此在这里只能把演奏效果搁置一边。

        诚然并非什么都不尽人意，几个节目演过之后，指挥开始插科打诨，致使观众睡意全无，接下来歌剧、二重唱、舞蹈轮番上阵，不过要想让上了年纪的老人精神头十足，你非得拿出看家本领不可。侥幸的是，我的情绪因此而被煽呼起来，笑话固然少不了用陈芝麻烂谷子作喙头捧料，整场演出确实具有一定的娱乐水平，从芭蕾双人舞到直笛独奏，我被逗得捧腹大笑，内心禁不住感激他们没拿乐器开涮，否则很难收场。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2017: Belvedere the Austrian Gallery, AUT(奥地利美景宫—国家美术馆)

2017: Vienna the City of Music, Austria(奥地利维也纳—音乐之城)

2017: Vienna the City of Dreams, Austria(奥地利维也纳—梦之城)

2016: Cobh the Teardrop of Ireland(爱尔兰的眼泪—科夫)

2016: Cork the Rebel County, Ireland(爱尔兰科克—叛逆之地)

2016: Kinsale the Tide Head, Ireland(爱尔兰金塞尔—潮头之角)

2016: Blarney Castle in Cork Outskirt, IRL(爱尔兰科克郊外布拉尼城堡)

2014 World Cup—ARG vs. NLD(阿根廷对荷兰世界杯足球赛)

Crosslinks(相关博文):

Austria(出游奥地利)

Europe(欧洲掠影)