Day 265: Bernstein and Vienna Boys’ Choir in Mahler 3
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day
265 — Bernstein and Vienna Boys’ Choir in Mahler 3
23-April-1972
(Sonntag–Sun.)
TRANSCRIPT
In der Kirche, mit Weiner
Singerknaben.
Habe ich Kostenlos in diese Konzert der
Mahler’s 3rd
Symphonie, mit Wiener Singerknaben
und Leonard Bernstein gegangen. Am meistems, sehr,
sehr, gut.
Heute habe ich Bilder, mit meiner Kamera mitgenommen.
Hoffentlich sie werden gut gekommen. Ich habe auch
die hände (shook) mit Herrn Bernstein.
Vieleicht, jetzt, gehe ich zum Oper
“Der
Besucht der Alter Dame” – ein wenig moderne oper.
Für mich es war interresant. Ich muß das ein andere
mal auch hören.
REFLECTIONS
TRANSLATION ATTEMPT
I’m in church with the Vienna Boys’ Choir.
I have purchased tickets and went to the concert of
Mahler’s Symphony
No. 3 with the
Vienna Boys’ Choir and Leonard Bernstein. On the most
part, very, very, good.
Today, I took pictures with my camera.
Hopefully
(hoffentlich), they will
come out good. I also “shook” Maestro Bernstein’s
hand.
Perhaps now, I will go to the opera,
“Der
Besuch der alten Dame,”
(besuch =
visit) a slightly
modern opera. For myself, it was interesting. I must
also listen to it at another time.
END TRANSLATION
Vienna
Boys’ Choir 2x. I am
experiencing the joy of the Vienna Boys’ Choir twice
today. First at mass in church, then at the Bernstein
concert of Mahler’s Symphony
No. 3. What a
thrill. I love the Vienna Boys’ Choir, I love Mahler,
I love Bernstein. The picture below (you’ve seen it
before), is of the Vienna Boys’ Choir in the organ
balcony of the Musikverein. It is actually from
today’s concert.
Bernstein concert pictures. The
opening picture, also from today’s afternoon concert,
shows the beautiful Musikverein concert hall,
renowned for its acoustics and beauty. Finally, I
confirm in the journal that today is the day I took
the photographs at the end of the concert. Remember,
that I actually ran from the side upper balcony back
to the far end of the upper balcony to take the
pictures of the hall and organ balcony. I actually
like a couple of these photos. I apologize for the
photos of Bernstein from my organ balcony seat, which
are overexposed and blurry. They were certainly
caused by slower shutter speeds when I took the
pictures. I apologize, 36 years later.
What a great concert.
Bernstein
handshake. At first,
I thought I was talking about my hand shaking when I
took the pictures of the concert. But no, I went
backstage and got in line to shake Maestro
Bernstein’s hand, most likely thanks to my friend,
Mike. That must have been some feeling. Like meeting
the President of the United States, or the Pope. The
picture below is of Bernstein at today’s concert.
One concert not enough. Of course,
I must also go to an opera at night. Standing room,
certainly. The opera that I went to see was
Der
Besuch der Alten Dame (Visit of the Old
Woman). In 1971,
Austrian composer Gottfried von Einem wrote the opera
based on the play by Friedrich Dürrenmatt of the same
name.
Der Besuch der Alten
Dame
German reminder. I remind
everyone that, in 1972, I was writing German off of
the top of my head, perhaps with a dictionary in
hand. Today, in 2009, I am also trying to translate
mostly off the top of my head—only looking up words I
don’t understand. Besides basic grammar, I know that
I have no concept of the gender of nouns—are they
masculine, feminine, or neutral. Thus not knowing
which corresponding article to use (der, die, das;
ein, eine, ein). Instead, I arbitrarily pick a
pronoun, guessing which may sound ok. I certainly
didn’t look up each noun for its gender, though I
should. Sorry. If there are any true Austrians or
Germans reading this, send me the corrections. I
should also capitalize nouns, which I have not been
doing.
Is there a German counterpart to our podcasting
heroine, Grammar Girl? If so, “hilfen mir, bitte.”
John
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