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.

【紅霞譯文】

        世界音樂之都、莫扎特的祖國、華爾茲發源地、古典音樂中心，履歷表個個如雷貫耳，但我想要點別的，帶有樂感、間或煽情、戲劇表演、維也納式舞台藝術、古典音樂中心、莫扎特演奏的地方、世上備受推崇的音樂殿堂。

        莫扎特與斯特勞斯音樂晚會在奧爾斯佩格宮舉行，它距離金色大廳很近，我和媽媽買好票打算見識一下常駐這裡的維也納首都樂團，室內樂是音樂的一種，通常跟其它任何演奏不同，不過由於我們來維也納時已過了表演季節，因此音樂會水平大打折扣，說心裡話，我還真搞不明白排名標準。

        環顧演奏廳四周，現場絕大多數觀眾穿的不是燕尾服就是連衣裙，而我短褲耐克衫便裝在身，但嚴格來講今晚音樂會並非正式，因為演奏廳不大，天花板又低，座位也欠講究，所以剛一進入演奏大廳我便感覺出休閒的氛圍。

        我說的沒錯，音樂會打着莫扎特和施特勞斯旗號，讓人乍看上去多少感覺挺古典的，可實際上商業性極強，一份節目單價值五塊歐元，多數曲目都是音樂會上喜聞樂見的作品，像《土耳其進行曲》和《春之聲圓舞曲》早已家喻戶曉，我也聽得耳熟，只有個別曲目我偶爾聽過一兩回。如果夠格稱得上演奏廳的話，奧爾斯佩格宮音質實在不置可否，座位隨處移動，椅子廉價極不舒服，再加上房頂低矮，在一般人眼裡興許沒什麼了不得，而對於受過訓練的我來說，天花板高低關繫到管樂器和打擊樂器回聲強弱，因此在這裡只能把演奏效果擱置一邊。

        誠然並非什麼都不盡人意，幾個節目演過之後，指揮開始插科打諢，致使觀眾睡意全無，接下來歌劇、二重唱、舞蹈輪番上陣，不過要想讓上了年紀的老人精神頭十足，你非得拿出看家本領不可。僥倖的是，我的情緒因此而被煽呼起來，笑話固然少不了用陳芝麻爛穀子作喙頭捧料，整場演出確實具有一定的娛樂水平，從芭蕾雙人舞到直笛獨奏，我被逗得捧腹大笑，內心禁不住感激他們沒拿樂器開涮，否則很難收場。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2017: Belvedere the Austrian Gallery, AUT(奧地利美景宮—國家美術館)

2017: Vienna the City of Music, Austria(奧地利維也納—音樂之城)

2017: Vienna the City of Dreams, Austria(奧地利維也納—夢之城)

2016: Cobh the Teardrop of Ireland(愛爾蘭的眼淚—科夫)

2016: Cork the Rebel County, Ireland(愛爾蘭科克—叛逆之地)

2016: Kinsale the Tide Head, Ireland(愛爾蘭金塞爾—潮頭之角)

2016: Blarney Castle in Cork Outskirt, IRL(愛爾蘭科克郊外布拉尼城堡)

2014 World Cup—ARG vs. NLD(阿根廷對荷蘭世界盃足球賽)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

Austria(出遊奧地利)

Europe(歐洲掠影)