By Emily Burnell Petrou
On a lovely autumn Saturday in mid-October, our generous orchestra conductor, Orhan Ahıskal, once again offered ESME members a chance to take one of his “Hit the Road” guided tours in the musically historic city of Salzburg, and easy day trip for Münchners.
We all met at the Munich Hauptbahnhof to board the 9:55 train and managed to find seats close to each other for socializing on the trip down. Once in Salzburg, we strolled in the mild sunshine to the bustling Altstadt, stopping first at a bakery to pick up snacks to fuel our energy for the next three hours. The tour officially began at Mozartplatz, and we continued on to various sites such as the birthplace of the tragic Expressionist poet Georg Trakl, who worked closely with composer Anton Webern, a quick peek into the Cafe Tomaselli (Mozart’s favorite coffee house – we also learned about the history of coffee coming to Vienna!), the magnificent baroque Franciscan Church, with its significant connection to Josef Haydn’s lesser known composer brother Michael (both contemporaries and friends of Salzburg’s favorite son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), the beautiful St. Peter’s cemetery, which includes the catacombs and grave containing both Michael Haydn and Mozart’s older sister, fellow musical child prodigy Marianne, and of course Mozart’s famous birthplace, which is also a museum dedicated to this genius of a composer. The tour ended with us listening to the cast of the beloved 1965 film “The Sound of Music” singing “Do-Re-Mi”, while we wandered around the scenic Mirabell Garden, one of the many famous Salzburg locales where filming took place. Throughout the entire tour, Orhan played us important musical pieces to highlight the many stories, which added to the richness of the history we were drinking in together; a truly profound and moving way to experience the lore we learned!
Afterwards, a jolly group of us joined Orhan for hot drinks at the elegant café housed in the Mozart family’s residence. A very fun and informative day all around, and we relished both the educational journey and the enjoyable companionship (and we just may have recruited a new soprano for our choir in the process, a singing pupil of Orhan’s talented wife – fingers crossed!). We feel very fortunate to have Orhan as part of the ESME family, to share his heartfelt passion and enthusiasm for music and the arts. Thanks again, Orhan, for taking the time out of your busy schedule for this!
Orhan is planning on conducting another one of these Salzburg tours on Sunday, November 16, so please mark your calendars and contact him if you are interested. It is well worth your time if you are a lover of cultural history.
In the meantime, our three ensembles – the ESME Orchestra and Singers, and the Resident Alien Band – continue to rehearse weekly to prepare for our upcoming ESME winter concert, “A Very Wicked Christmas”, which will take place on the evening of Saturday, December 13, at the stunning Munich Künstlerhaus am Lenbachplatz. Bookmark this space for further details, or better yet, subscribe to this blog!
(Speaking of marking your calendars, our Resident Alien Big Band will be putting on their very first Big Band Karaoke event on Friday, October 17, with doors opening at 7 pm at the Kultur Neue Ziegelei in Bogenhausen. This is bound to be an absolute blast and your chance to feel like a star, so show up early and choose your song from their playlist. Or just come along to watch and enjoy the spectacle!)