Once upon a time, there was a fairy princess who went to a ball...

I just got back from a ball. Let me repeat that. I JUST GOT BACK FROM A BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At a palace, no less!!!! It was unimaginably wonderful. Let me start at the beginning (yes, a very good place to start). To begin my wondrous day, I slept in. Hooray. Then I got up, ate some breakfast, and put on my makeup for the ball, because I knew that I wouldn't have time for the rest of the day. Then I caught the Strassenbahn and headed over to the stake center for my voice lesson, which was fabulous. I switched my audition piece for the opera. Yay! I'm now auditioning for the part of Nicklausse in for Tales of Hoffman in the fall. This fits my voice much better than the other role I was auditioning for. After that, I came back and finished getting ready for the ball. I must say, all of us girlies looked pretty fabulous. I wore my black prom dress from senior year. Yay! Our groups consisted of 7 girls, and Ty - the only guy. It was kind of funny. Anyway, after getting ready we headed over to Ty's house to take pictures. Again, kind of funny, I know. He lives with Austrian aristocrats, so their house is an appropriate place to gather before a ball. The one spot of ghetto on our trophy of class was that we had to take the U-bahn to Ty's place. It was hilarious. Here we were (Britain, Emily, and I) in our formalwear in the nasty U-bahn station. I have never gotten so many wierd looks in my life. Most people drive, or take a cab, or a limo to a ball. Oh no my friends, we took the U-bahn. Klassy with a K, as Laura would say. It was awesome. We took princess pictures in the U-bahn. I will get them from Emily and post them at a later date. Anyway, we congregated at Ty's, took pictures, and then walked to the Hoffburg. We took some awesome pictures of us walking down Mariahilfer Strasse, which I will also post later. We arrived at the palace, and it was so beautiful. As we entered by way of the arches, which were build on the same spot as a gate that Napoleon blew up, we could see the Palace. the Rathaus, and the buildings of the Museumsquartier all lit up. It was unbelieveable. Then we went inside. Oh. My. Goodness. It was spectacular. Marble, mirrors, and chandeliers stretched out in every direction. We checked our coats, and ascended the red carpet lined staircase into the area where the ball was held. There were several rooms, but when we got there the debutauntes from the dance school were performing. Imagine hundreds of girls in white dresses dancing with their tuxedo-clad parthners, all perfectly in sync. After the opening ceremony, the floor was open. The Viennese have such a rich culture. The dancing was incredible. It was nothing like American dancing where it seems that everything has to have a sensual undertone. No, this was dancing for the sake of beautiful dancing. Not that everyone was a great dancer. There were people messing up all over the place, but they were having such a great time that it didn't matter, which was comforting. Did I mention that there was a live orchestra and jazz combo? Yeah. They were the Austrian military orchestra, and they were great! We sat on the steps just below them, and chatted with some of the violinists. As soon as we had taken in the general splendor of our situation, we were ready to dance. Ty danced with a few of us, myself included. It turns out that Becky is an incredible dancer! She was so awesome. I, on the other hand, am not so wonderful. However, I gave it my best shot, and had a blast in the process. In addition to Ty, I danced with Bernhardt, a violinist in the orchestra, and Krystoff, a law student from Salzburg. They were both very nice, and I learned six new dances. I learned the foxtrot, jive, cha-cha, rumba, a french dance that I think was called the Midnight Quatrain (or something like that. They said the name in German), and the Viennese waltz. The French dance was out of control. It was one of those dances like in Pride and Prejudice where the couples line up in two lines, only it went so fast. My parthner (Krystoff) and I were really bad at it, but it was really fun. The waltz was by far my favorite. It was so beautiful. We waltzed to Moon River, and the feeling of all those couples spinning at exactly the same time was absolutely enchanting. I was so happy that I got to waltz at a ball in Vienna. How perfect ist that? After the waltz, the orchestra played the Blue Danube Waltz. Perfection. I still cannot get over how amazing this whole experience was. As I left, I took one last look at the couples waltzing under the picturesque Baroque painted ceiling of the ballroom, and thought to myself "How did this happen? How is this really my life?!?" I am having absolutely the best time over here, and feel so blessed to have this opportunity! I have to go to bed now. I have class in the morning! Yikes! However, I will post pictures as soon as I can. Auf wiedersehen!

PS- Here are some pictures, as promised!

Can life get better? I submit that it cannot!

My life is a fairytale. I wake up every morning, push back the princess curtains, and eat my breakfast in my adorable and completely European apartment overlooking the Danube. Then I go to school and learn about art, language, and architecture. After that, I get to make music for a few hours with my wonderfully talented friends. Today I went to the Kunsteshistorisches Museum (art history museum) with Amy, Shea, and Emily, and saw the Saliera (Cellini), and a whole room full of original Breugel paintings. I need to go back to see the Vermeers and Rembrandts. After the museum, I went home, changed, and then Britain and I made our way down to the Naschmarkt to meet the others for dinner. What happened next was like something out of a movie. Let me preface this story by saying that Joseph has connections, and has made friends with the casting director at the Theater an der Wien - where Mozart conducted the premiere of The Magic Flute. How cool is that?!?! So, tonight Mr. Schwarz was kind enough to invite all of us to the final dress rehearsal of Handel's Parthenope. We met in the lobby after dinner, and pretty soon Mr. Schwarz came and whisked us around to the back of the theater. We got to go backstage, and into the theater where we got to sit in the fifth or sixth row - for free. None of us really knew anything about Parthenope, except for a shady synopsis that Britain and I looked up on Wikipedia, so we had no clue what to expect. It was so incredible!!! It was a modern staging, which I didn't know if I would like. I loved it! It was sooooooo well done. There were two counter-tenors, which was exciting, and the Mezzo was fabulous. The acting was so good! And the set - unbelieveable. There were all these elements that twisted, and evolved. It was also very funny, which was exciting, because it could have been pretty dry. At the end, there is supposed to be a duel, but they staged it as a boxing match, and it was so funny! There was also a scene where Parthenope and one of her many romantic prospects were doing yoga. It matched the music exactly, and was so clever. The Mezzo and the Tenor rode off on a motorcycle at the end. Awesome! During one of the intermissions Mr. Schwarz came and told us abou the set, and a little bit of what it takes to put on such a high quality show, which was fascinating. We are also going on a behind the scenes tour of the Theater in the next week or so. How many people get this kind of opportunity?!? Not many. I'll post pictures of the theater tomorrow. It's very intimate, and I think it's my favorite of all the theaters that I've been to here. But wait - there's more! As if all of this awesomeness isn't enough, I'm going to a ball on Tuesday. It's called the Elmayer Kranzchen ball. It's held in the Hofburg palace. I'm so excited! Here is the website. Well, that's all for now! Auf wiedersehen!

Musikverein noch einmal

The Musikverein rocks my world. I heard Anna Larsson (Mezzo-soprano), today, and it was unbelieveable. However, my musical experience did not start out so warm and fuzzy. Laura was nice enough to get tickets for everybody yesterday, however, she was under the impression that the tickets were for the Wiener Philharmoniker concert, which was also tonight in the same venue. Little did she know that the ticket website was feeding her lies. So, when the time came for us to head over to get our tickets, Laura calls me and says she's going to be late and asks me if I would pick up the tickets. Naturally, I agreed, and proceeded to the Musikverein. Once we arrived, I asked a nice lady where the will-call office was. She told me that for the Philharmoniker, it was down two blocks. So, off we went. Unfortunately, we got a little bit confused, and ran around for about a half hour between two different ticket offices selling tickets for two different concerts at the same venue. Arg! When Laura bought the tickets, the confirmation e-mail said they were for the Philharmoniker, but they were actually for Anna Larsson's recital, which we found out after running around like crazy people, and dealing with several very rude individuals. Finally we figured out where we were going, and got into the recital, albeit a bit late. The small portion of the first half that we saw, I actually wasn't too impressed with. To be fair though, I was not in the best of moods. Intermission came around, and we (meaning Ty, Laura, Britain, Emily, and myself) went downstairs to the main level of the hall, where we saw Joseph. After chatting for a few minutes, we proceeded to sneak into some empty seats. I sat next to a very nice man, and we spoke a little bit in German. Yay! From that point on, the recital got better and better! Anna Larsson has this big, rich voice (being a worldclass mezzo), and it was great for me to see how she used it. It seemed to get clearer and more inviting the more she sang. Maybe that will be me someday! She did a set of Grieg songs, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Grieg is a Norwegian composer, who I am beginning to really love as I listen to more of his work. She also sang a Wolf set, and two encores, one of which was a piece from Sibelius - awesome. I love being a part of the Viennese audience. The people here love music so much, and have no qualms about showing their appreciation, which I think is great. They always give the most sincere, enthusiastic applause and have no problem shouting "bravo!" if they think someone deserves it. I have such a fabulous opportunity over here to watch all of these famous singers, and how they practice their craft. I learn so much from watching and listening to them - not to mention it's so fun to attend so many concerts and operas!
P.S I might to go a ball next week. For real. I'll keep you posted! Bis bald!

What a weekend!

Here are the events of this weekend:

On friday I went on my third walking tour. It was so cold!!!! We saw interesting things though, like the house where Mozart composed the Marriage of Figaro. I also ate at the place that has the biggest Wiener Schnitzel in Wien. We then went to the LDS outreach, stuffed ourselves with waffles, and watched movies. Yay! Saturday Britain and I awoke to a call from Dr. Vincent informing us that our study abroad group would be giving a concert in 24 hours. Yikes! I then went to Naschmarkt, and went to lunch with Naomi and Emily. Viel spass. After lunch, Britain, Laura, Naomi and I hung out at my apartment, and then went on an uber romantic girl dinner date. Then I went to Die Zauberfloete! It was so fun. I really enjoyed that show. The staging was fun, and overall the singing was very good. There were some things in that show that I thought were a little off, but it was so fun. Today I went over to Dr. Vincent's to help out with things before the concert. We ate lunch, which was tasty, and then we all practiced the rep for the concert. We then headed over to the stake center for sacrament meeting. After church, we all huddled in the kitchen and ate rice. Then I warmed up and sang with Ty, Naomi, and Laura. That was so fun! It's always fun to sing with talented friends. Then it was time for the concert. The performance was so fun! I haven't performed in a concert setting in a long time, and it was so great to sing on a concert with my friends. The Viennese are so appreciative of classical music, which is not something I'm completely used to yet. After the performance, we got a chance to speak to the church members, which was so wonderful. I spoke mostly in German, which was exciting, even if I didn't understand everything people said. Tonight was one of those times when I feel that yes, I really am doing the right thing with my life. I love singing, and I love the affect that music has on people's hearts. I want to make people happy through my music. It is so important to remind myself that the goal of singing is not my own satisfaction, but rather the peace that can come to other people. If I can can be the vehicle through which a person's soul is touched, then all everything is worth it. That is the ultimate goal. I am excited to have more performance opportunities, and am motivated to keep moving forward. Bis bald!

Ich liebe Musik!

So, I just got back from The Barber of Seville at the Staatsoper, and it was so wonderful! I am singing a trio from this opera here in Vienna, so it was especially fun to see that piece performed. The set was this neat building with walls that would could be pulled up like garage doors in front of all the rooms. It looked kind of like a Spanish dollhouse when all the walls were up. I loved the staging for this show, and the singing was unbelieveable! It was very exciting (not to mention a little intimidating) to hear how the pros do coloratura. This trio for opera scenes is my first attempt at Rossini caliber coloratura, and it has been extremely challenging, but also very rewarding as I realize that I am singing music now that was far out of my reach just a few short months ago. It's very encouraging to see improvement in yourself. The acting in this production was fabulous as well, especially Figaro! That baritone did such a great job. His voice was fantastic, and he was so funny! Needless to say, I had a great opera-going experience. I realized that in almost all of my blog posts I start at the last thing that happened and go backwards. This post is no exception. That being said, earlier today we had German class, and opera workshop. German went well. It was a little intense, as always, but I feel like my German is greatly improving. I get really irritated when I am in a public place and people speak to me in English when I am trying to communicate in German. However, I have noticed that this is happening a little bit less than when I first arrived. It did happen tonight at a cafe, but the rest of today was pretty good in the German department. Opera workshop was so fun today! We reviewed the Die Zauberfloete scene, which was good, because we had to re-work some things. I am really excited about that scene. Yay Mozart! We also did the Cosi fan tutte duet and trio, as well as the Barber of Seville trio. Now that I have most of my music memorized, it is really fun to work out acting and blocking details. Opera is so complicated, but it is such a rush when things flow the way they are supposed to. Hopefully our scenes will continue to get better and better! I hope you enjoyed my operatic rant. I knew that I would learn a lot about music here, but I am amazed at how much deeper my understanding of music's ability to reach out and touch the core of human emotion has grown. I love this city, I love music, and I can't wait to see what other adventures are in store for me! Bis bald!

Crazy weather

The weather here is insane. One day it is sunny and warm, and the next it is snowing and miserable. Take this morning for instance, I looked out the window and thought that it was going to be warm. Needless to say, it was freezing! AND it started raining and then snowing, and got colder and colder as the day went on. Brrrr! Today I went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum (art history museum) for my fine art class. It was so fun! Tomorrow we are going to the Academy of Fine Arts, where Hitler was rejected as an art student. I also had voice lessons and opera workshop today, both of which went well. Hooray! After that I went to a cafe with some amigas, and then we headed over to Becky and Naomi's house to watch a movie. We all piled on Naomi's bed, and it was glorious. Yesterday we had class, and then opera workshop, and then it was time to find some chocolate! After the hunt for chocolatey goodness was accomplished, we went over to the outreach institute for delicous dinner for 1.50 Euro! It was so good! We were all starving. Then we had FHE and hung out with the Austrian peeps. That's the report for today! I have to go to bed. So much to write, so little time!

A rainy Sunday in Vienna

Hello all!

Let me paint a picture for you. This morning I awoke to the sound of rain lightly knocking on the window. I clumbsily parted my princess curtains (yes, I have princess curtains that seperate my bed from the rest of the floral-wallpapered awesomeness that is my room), and casually greeted the serf that seems to always occupy the other half of my kingdom when she's not otherwise engaged in useful activities such as, but certainly not limited to, preparing my morning cornflakes or bringing me chocolate bars ;). After this customary greeting of "hey Britain," I felt the gentle heat of the radiator eminating from the floorboards as I made my way to the window. As I peered around the orchid emblazoned curtains, I noted the usual morning suspects - Volkswagons humming along the Ringstrasse, pedestrians hustling down the sidewalks with their dogs, and little kids on razor scooters. However this morning, something was a little different. For one thing, the windows were a little bit foggy, and secondly, the Danube was greyer and more tumultuous than usual. As I looked closer, I also noted that the pedestrians were hugging their big fur coats (which are very popular among the women here) a little tighter to their bodies, and that the unfortunately small dogs that these pedestrians seem to tow along everywhere looked a little more frantic than usual. Amassing all of these observations, I decided to open the windows and see if it was really as wintry as the scene outside my window seemed to depict. As I pulled the window pane toward me, a blast of frigid air and water hit my face.

Thank you for entertaining my creative interpretation of my morning. One side effect of being in such an enchanting place has been an inspiration to explore all the creative avenues of my personality. I would love to continue this little narrative, but for time's sake I will consolidate the rest of my adventures of the day. After I discovered how cold it was outside, I went about my normal Sunday routine. After grabbing severeal jackets, scarves, and the like, Britain and I made our way to the U-bahn, and I will have you know that we were out the door by eight. That, friends, is a whole hour before church starts. In order to get to our meetinghouse, we take two U-bahns and a Strassenbahn. It was kind of fun. I sat on the Strassenbahn (streetcar) listening to Symphonie Fantastique, watching the icy raindrops flit across the windows, and thinking about all the possibilities that stretch out in front of me. I met some very interesting people at church today, and I feel like I was much more aware of what was happening around me than I was last week. This is exciting, becuase it means that my German has improved at least a little bit. I really enjoy sitting in these all-German meetings and trying to make linguistic connections. I understood what all the lessons were about, even if I didn't catch many of the details. I brought my music with me, and so after church was over I went into the cultural hall and practiced for a little over an hour. It was so great! I didn't realize how much I took the HFAC for granted. I do not have a piano in my Hausfrau's apartment, and so it is really exciting when I have a place to practice. I worked on a trio and a duet from The Barber of Seville and Cosi fan tutte, respectively, and it was fun. After practicing, I went back to the apartment, and changed into jeans. Yay! Britain and I then went over to Dr. Vincent's for religioun class. After class, we talked about the second walking tour, and ate dinner. We had yummy stir-fry, and just hung out, which is always nice. All in all, I had a very pleasant Sunday.

Now I'm going to backtrack and tell you about my adventures from Saturday! Saturday morning, Britain, Emily, Naomi, and I went to Naschmarkt, which is always entertaining. Then we ate at Puccini's. Sounds great, right? Wrong. I realize that eating at cafes takes longer here, but it took an eternity to get our food, and they were out of almost everything on the menu. It was obnoxious. After "lunch", we met up with other members of our group at the Rathaus (city hall, funny right?), to go ice staking. This sounded like a great plan until we discovered how expensive it was. So, instead, Becky, Emily, Laura Joseph and I went on part of the second walking tour. We saw the old city hall, Maria am Gestade (a cathedral), and Judenplatz just to name some highlights. Here are some pictures!

This is a plaque on the side of a building where Mozart lived in 1783.

Maria am Gestade

Holocaust memorial in Judenplatz. It really was quite chilling to see it in person.

This is an inscription on the base of the memorial. You can see the ridges in this picture, which are books with their spines turned inward. These books represent the lives of the more than 65,000 Austrian Jews who were killed. The fact that their spines are turned to the inside of the memorial represent the idea that their lives are closed, and only the dead can read them.

After we finished the tour, we ate at the Schottenring Cafe and had Wienerschnitzel, which was tasty. Then Becky, Joseph, and I went to Stiffelio at the Staatsoper. I have never heard such beautiful singin in my life. It was rich, and powerful, but delicate and untouchable at the same time. Here is a picture of me with the fabulous soprano, Hui He. She blew my mind, she was so great!

Well, that just about wraps it up for the past two days! Tschuess!