Tuesday night indulgences

Every Tuesday since I've been here, I've gone to see something special. The first Tuesday, our whole group saw Die Fledermaus in standing room. The second, we saw the Wiener Philharmoniker play outside in Schönbrunn Park. The third, Emily and I went on a date to see Renee Fleming. This evening, I went to see an incredible performance of La Traviata, again, on a fabulous date with the beautiful Emily Janser! I enjoy being with one other person, after a week of chaos of being with a large, loud group of people! It is nice to share thoughts with Emily, as we have an incredible amount in common! The past two weeks, when we leave school for the day, we dress up a bit and go to a fancy little cafe and eat a good meal with fresh meat and a glass of wine. Tonight, we ordered dessert and shared a strawberry torte which tasted a little bit like heaven. Or at least, what heaven might taste like!! It is just nice to relax and enjoy a little quieter, fancier evening.

Although being with Emily and bonding with her (she is also my roommate at Penn State) is just wonderful, the real indulgence of the night was embracing the music of Verdi, and melting at the sound of the soprano, Violetta, played by Melba Ramos. Even though we were faced with the challenge of listening to Italian opera, and trying to understand the plot through German subtitles, I loved the dramatic nature of the opera. Basically, in one sentence, La Traviata is about the potency and deadliness of Love. You can only imagine how intense Verdi creates the music to depict this dramatic plot. The singing was absolutely beautiful. I could just tell how much Melba Ramos enjoyed being onstage, alone or not, and singing a difficult score with grace and without flaw. If I would have gone to see this opera 3 weeks ago, I would have struggled with the German subtitles. However, tonight, I realized just how much I have learned in a short period of time, and I understood most of it! I have gained so much vocabulary in just 3 weeks here--I can't imagine what I would pick up if I were here for an entire semester.

In addition to this blog, I have been writing in a journal, so that I can record my thoughts throughout the day, not just when I have something to share with everyone! I have been thinking about how I tend to leave out things about my music classes from this blog. It almost feels as though I'm studying culture, rather than music here. Don't get me wrong. I love my music performance workshop, where I have had many chances to perform for a small group of peers, and I have a vocal coach who is charming, and has some great pointers for me. But I do realize that I am growing more as a person and a thinker than a musician here. I enjoy singing "Wien, Wien, nur du allein," and I enjoy practicing the many, many songs I have been given to work on. But, the structure of the class is built so you get out what you put in, or rather, you get out what your peers put in because much of our class time is spent trying to get constructive criticism from our classmates. Sometimes it is helpful, other times not, but when it is not, it doesn't matter because I was blessed with a faculty at Penn State who taught me how to think critically always and hold myself to a high standard.

Music is still what I love most in the world, and what I am sure I want to do for a lifetime. This is why I call these amazing opera nights/concert nights 'indulgences.' I could get addicted to this. When I come back to America and the day turns to Tuesday night, I am going to think of Vienna and the feeling of wanting to be able to touch the heavenliness of the sounds I am so blessed to hear.