Classes started today! We had an excursion to an 18th century piano shop. The owner built and collected pianos. What a neat and eye opening experience! It's amazing how the piano changed so much in 75 years from the turn of the century 1800 to 1872, when the modern piano became the standard. I wonder why...either way, it makes it difficult for those of us who really enjoy playing classical music to think of it in the same way! The pianos back then were brilliant for the music that was written back then, and to perform it on the modern pianos of cast iron is not doing the music justice. It made me kind of sad to think that the Haydn or Mozart or Beethoven sonatas or even pieces that Chopin or Liszt performed on are almost never used when playing such music and is a world of difference...we were able to hear the same excerpts on about 15 different pianos and I couldn't believe the difference a wooden sound board or leather hammers made. I want to learn more about the development of the piano, and I really am curious to know why it stopped. The coolest thing the presenter showed us was the difference in action between viennese pianos and the french ones, which eventually became the style. He actually took the pianos apart and removed the keybeds from the grands and put them up on tables. Sweet! I got a ton of pictures that I will hopefully post soon!

I am playing four hands with the other pianist in this program, Kenya. He goes to Yale and we are playing a fugue by Mozart...interesting, because i didnt ever associate mozart with fugues...

I'm really inspired by being in Vienna. When i sit down, i dont feel like its a chore, so i get to practice legitimately, instead of just playing through the notes. I feel empowered, like I might actually do something with the piano. Ha, after all i did this past semester, to finally have some sort of confidence at the piano is refreshing. The Bosendorfer I practice is really sweet...the action is fantastic and the room is like a bathtub, i sound good in it...I guess i should find somewhere a bit more dead to practice, but playing there is fun. I'm starting to learn the Beethoven concerto No. 3 in c minor and the concerto for wind ensemble by david gillingham, as well as a few other solo pieces I'm really excited about :)

I guess I'm finally settling into Vienna...now time to write a paper about the classical style! More tomorrow!