ecbinvienna

Austrians go to the polls today to vote, in a direct process, for their president for the next six years. Thank goodness the president doesn’t have much power, although, unfortunately, he or she does have a strong representative role outside the country, because in the last few days there are signs that the candidate from the FPÖ (the extreme right-wing nationalist party) has pulled ahead. The other frontrunner (the former head of the Green Party) still has a chance though.  With six candidates for the job and a requirement that the winner have an absolute majority, it seems likely that Austrians will be going back to the polls in May. Stay tuned …

This phrase in my last post may need some explanation. I’m basing the statement on something Jörg Mauthe, an Austrian writer and expert on things Viennese, wrote in his book Wien für Anfänger (Vienna for Beginners). In the second lesson he describes two Viennese coming together. The first one lays out his opinion on a topic. Then the second one gives his–diametrically opposing–opinion to which the first, after a moment’s thought, says, “Ist auch wahr …” (“That’s true too …”)

Our local Trafikant  (that is, proprietor of our local Trafik) was in good form this morning. He enjoyed Maylo, as always, and gave him treats. Then he asked “Und wie ist er mit den Weiberln?” (Basically, “And what’s Maylo like with the ladies?”) I explained that Maylo is neutered and that although he gets excited around females in heat he doesn’t really know what  he is supposed to do. With typical Viennese flexibility and diplomacy, he promptly responded, “One less problem for him to worry about.” 🙂

This window says something about what is changing in Vienna. First of all, this highly specialized medical glass business has moved out of town, away from the medical district into Lower Austria. They didn’t bother to remove their opening hours before leaving, though, and so we can see that they still upheld the convention of closing for one hour in the middle of the day for lunch.

It was an especially wonderful concert today, fitting, one could say, for the 75th anniversary of the event.

The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) led into the program with a brief documentary about the Strauss family, narrated by Johann Strauss’s  great to the nth power grandson, Eduard Strauss. He put some of the pieces into context (like what “Extrapost” was), gave an inside look at his family, including how they spelled their name (sometimes with two Ss, sometimes with one, and sometimes with with the German ß), and explained what makes for a good interpretation of a waltz. A good performance “zieht” or pulls the listeners and dancers in; a bad one “schiebt” or pushes them. A good one also remains at all times danceable, never varying the tempo so much that the dancers are left stranded.

The Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Mariss Jansons managed to create just the right kind of pull in the balanced program of waltzes, polkas, and marches that opened with the “UNO March” composed by the late Austrian composer, Robert Stolz, to celebrate the opening of the United Nations offices in Vienna. This was surely a tribute to Ban Ki-moon, who attended this year’s concert with the President of Austria.

There were the usual humorous touches–like Mariss Jansons’s taking a bank note out of the concert master’s jacket pocket to tip the messenger who delivered a Strauss heirloom baton by “Extrapost”–as well as a display of the unexpected versatility of the Vienna Philharmonic, who whistled, sighed, and groaned as required on top of playing with their usual virtuousity.

In their first appearance the ballet showcased the beautiful historic racetrack in the Prater, Freudenau. They returned to Schönbrunn for their second appearance, danced to the “Kaiserwalzer,” with some very good dancing and something of a surprise ending.

All in all, a good start to the year 2016. I may be buying the DVD of this one, and I have to say the last recording of the concert I bought was with von Karajan conducting and Kathleen Battle singing in 1987.

Thank heavens the plows are out this morning! What would we do without them?!? 😉

I think I’m going to do all my Christmas shopping on December 24th from now on. I have vivid memories of hectic Christmas Eve shopping (at 5 p.m or later) in the USA. In Vienna, almost everyone has already finished his or her shopping so the shops and public transportation are relatively empty and the sales staff quite happy to see customers. I got a great deal done in just an hour or so at two or three different shops, and even got a couple of things on sale already. One caveat–you have to know which shops are open and which not. And do not try to buy anything after 2 p.m. at the latest!

http://www.thelocal.at/20151218/weird-habits-youll-pick-up-living-in-austria

It’s a bit hard to see, but that is the French flag hung on their balcony, another gesture of solidarity.