Just in the very nick of time

To the commoner, the Vienna Philharmonic is just another symphony orchestra in the world.
To the rest of the earth's population, the Vienna Philharmonic is quite possibly the finest orchestra in the world. It's been around for almost 170 years and I can assume that almost every well-known conductor has conducted the group at one time or another.

Last night, I ventured to the Konzerthaus here in Wien, to hear the Philharmonic's first concert of the season. Conducting, was the 29-year old Venezuelan man named Gustavo Dudamel. I'd say he's had a pretty successful 29 years of life so far. Good FOR him.

But whoa whoa whoa. I'm getting ahead of myself. I must begin at the beginning, eh?
I arrive at the Konzerthaus at around 6:50pm as the concert starts at 7:30pm. I was hoping to get a cheap ticket that someone donated to the box office which explains my early arrival. I ask one of the ticket fellows if he believes I'm going to be able to get a ticket. He replies with a "Eh....probably not." Nevertheless, I wait on the line of about 15 or 20 people already thinking about what I'm going to do instead of see Dudamel and the Vienna Philarmonic. The time on the clock is nearing 7:30pm when the ticket lady begins selling the cheap seats. The eyes of everyone on that line light up in a flash. I get to the ticket window and perform my "Sprechen Sie Englisch?" bit just at my cell phone's clock hits 7:30. I get a seat for 10 little Euros and I'm off. I race to the lobby of the immense building searching for an usher. Several ushers yell something at me. I do my panicked "Uhhh, sprechen Sie Englisch?" bit again. They reply with, "Uh -- go, run to the 3rd floor!"
What did I do?
Well, I did jusssstt that. I run up those stairs like I ran up the stairs of NEST+m as Saby, the Indian gym teacher, whipped Kevin G. and I relentlessly. As I rush to the top of the staircase, I hear the applause of 1,800 ON-TIME, prompt concert-goers.

eEYYEYEYEYE. I make it. I make it to the top just as the old usher lady closes the door to the hall and looks at me slowly shaking her head. Ouchy mama. That hurt. But, hey I was okay. Just as I sit down to wait for the first piece to be over, she peers her head into the hall again and her eyes bulge. She grabs me and my ticket and scurries me to my seat as the Vienna Philharmonic finishes tuning to a beautifullll.....A (as in the note, A). I see my empty seat. A nice and hefty lookin' man sits comfortably between me and my unclaimed seat. I say quietly but forcefully, "Entschuldigung (Excuse me)." He stands up and I quickly plop down in my seat just in time to see Maestro Dudamel waltz onto the stage. The man next to me then whispers some German into my ear. The translated version was "That seat you're sitting in was my seat. I gave that ticket to the box office." I praised him with my hushed "Vielen dank"s and within seconds, Rossini's Overture to La Gazza Ladra had commenced. Whew. Somehow, I had made it.

Well, as you can imagine, the concert was pretttay great. Gustavo Dudamel does jump as he conducts, and rather frequently at that. On the program was a very Copland-esque piece by a Spanish composer, Julian Orbon. I later found out that the composer studied with Aaron Copland. Also on the program was Lenny Bernstein's Divertimento for Orchestra. I give that man all the credit in the world for getting giggles and chuckles out of the Viennese audience. I must say, as corny as it may be, I felt Bernstein in the air. After all, he did spend lots of time in this city with the very same orchestra.

A little Ravel there and a little Ravel there to close out the night.
What little Ravel closed out the night you might inquire?...his 1928 classic, Bolero. I've listened to countless recording of that piece and I can now say, you must see it live. It's nothing fancy - just some wonderful zone-out music.

A few final remarks: the Konzerthaus has a smoking room. Uh huh, a smoking room on the third floor. I had the pleasure of walking through it to get to the bathroom.

Not until 1997 did the Vienna Philharmonic allow women into the orchestra. I thought I'd say a handful last night...I believe I just saw three.

During the first Ravel piece, his famous "Pavane pour une infante défunte," I watched a mother and her son in front of me whispering little things to one another. When the music got even softer, the mother and son began conversing through sign language. Youtube the piece...then maybe you will understand what I felt at that moment.

And finally, after the many well-deserved bows, Gustavo Dudamel came out one last time. Just a side note: each time he previously came out for a bow, he would give two violinists a little nudge to get up that would let the entire orchestra know to rise. This last time, he gave the same nudge to the violinists - but nothing happened. The two men did not budge a centimeter. Why? Well, the whole orchestra then began applauding Maestro Dudamel.

How bout that for 10 Euros?

My first sitting concert/opera experience in Vienna was an amazing one. Oh, and I recognized some Viennese folks sitting near me. I had seen the couple at the Opera a few weeks back. I've been to only three performances in the city and I'm already getting to know the crowd.

I'm off to Oktoberfest so I'm sure I'll be forced to spend a lot more than 10 Euros.
All the best, folks...
Danny Boy

How bout that, eh?

If you, the reader, knows me at all, I think you know that I'm not one to brag. If you know me REALLY well, you may know that I get a lot of pleasure out of giving people directions. Toursits, eh...they're okay, but I really love helping fellow Manhattaners who simply do not know the neighborhood they're in. Now bear in mind, this only happens in New York City, a city that I know quite well - today, that "only" has changed to "for the most part."

The following will be me bragging:

Today, I was sporting my salmon-colored, short-sleeved, button-down shirt and shorts. As I was walking down Johannessgasse, a perplexed woman gets my attention. Without even trying out her native language (which I could easily tell was not German), she begins speaking some decent English. She asks for directions ---- YIPEEEEE. I proceeded to give her precise directions with the typical arm gestures and distances in the proper unit, meters. She then handed me 250 Euros, kissed me on the cheek, and said "Oh, what a smart little boy you are."

Eh, maybe she didn't do the last three things, but I was plenty satisfied with my payoff. I just think it's kind of hilarious that she found me, an English speaker who was more than willing to help direct her to where she needed to go.

As for school-work, boy oh boy do I have a lot to do. With only three months left in this heavenly city, I must get to work.

Here are some entertaining little jigs for your enjoyment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWy8ArCe50o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdTAjsGkWmY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql_3LS_B4q0&feature=related

Return to my Home away from Home

Today, I arrived in Vienna once again. Over the past 10 days, myself and around 40 other IES students traveled through the heart of Central Europe stopping in Prague, Krakow, and Budapest. Other than all the obvious and fairly enjoyable touristy stuff, each city had a very nice feel and much to offer --- so much that one could not see all that much in less than 3 days; nevertheless, it was quite an amazing trip.

I didn't realize it until today as we got ready to depart from the world's worst rest-stop, but I did not have any time during those 10 days to reflect on my own away from the bustling city streets. No, I could not do any sort of reflection while standing in the bunks of Auschwitz...
My point is that it was extraordinarily nice to be off a gross, hungover, garbage and 20-year old ridden bus for a few minutes and just to feel the sun and breeze pass me by.

This week marks the first week of real classes. Let us see how much blog-writing time I'm going to have.

Enjoy ladies and gents,
Daniel R.

Talk about hectic days, eh?

Today, like all crazy days, began with a nice little hangover.

Today was also the first day that I met with my Musicology Internship instructor, Morten Solvik, in his palace-of-an-office.
Then, off to the oral portion of a German final.
I then had to quickly email Bard freakin' College about the musicology internship. I'm not sure what they do in the Registrar if they're not responding to emails that have been addressed to REGISTRAR@BARD.EDU.

Then, since I'm going on a little trip to the big cities surrounding Vienna tomorrow, I attended an info session on such.
Oh oh, then...the Mahler class, Morten Solvik and I walked to the Austrian Theatre Museum to see an exhibit devoted to Mahler celebrating his big 1-5-0 anniversary. That's right, he is 150 years old and he still looks like this:

After a speedy run-through of the exhibit we returned to the classroom for a short session on Mahler wahler.
Then, two dudes and I hurried to the Musikverein where we saw a lovely French horn dominated Schumann concert.

Ah, you've never been to the Musikverein?

Well, now you have. Disregard all of those flowers; they were not there this evening.

Auf Wiedersehen, boys and girls!

The Power of a Smile

I chomped on a gala apple as I walked briskly towards the U-Bahn station near my home this morning when I was about to turn the corner when all A SUDDEN ----

WHOOOAH
I almost walked right into an alluring young woman. There was a pause for maybe half-a-second until we both apologized in our native tongues. The seemingly cacophonous utterance of the two words, "Sorry" and "Entschuldigung" was actually quite gorgeous.

We would soon part ways, but not before a brief but unmistakable exchange of half, no-teeth showing-smiles took place. It made my day --- well, it made my 7 minute train ride.
I didn't get to snap a photo of the young lad, but this is pretty much what she looked like:





Keep in mind, I made eye contact with her for around one second -- alas, my mind's a bit hazy.

I can say for sure that she is not currently writing a blog post about this particular event like someone else, but I'll be able to sleep tonight as long my "Sorry" echoed in her head for a second or two after our shortened "date."

In other Viennese news, the weather hasn't been all that fantastic. However, I have seen the heat that New Yorkers
have been dealing with and I am perfectly fine with a few rainy and cloudy days.

Last fall semester at Bard College, I took a course entitled "Gustav Mahler & Fin-de-siecle Vienna" with Professor Christopher Gibbs. This fall semester, I'm taking a course entitled "Gustav Mahler and Turn-of-the-Century Vienna" with Dr. Morten Solvik. I guess it wouldn't surprise you that the two professors are good friends. After tonight's first class, I can already tell this course will be as enlightening if not more than the Bardo-world one.

Cheers from Vienna, boys and girls.

An American in Vienna

I've been here exactly two weeks - of course, of course, it feels like I've been here for months and months.

For those who don't know, Vienna's a pretty touristy city. I'm not sure if it's because I've lived in New York City my whole life, but the tourism here doesn't bother me much. As Kent, the Student Services Coordinator of IES, told us...we are not tourists - we are residents of Vienna.

The past two weeks have been somewhat hectic - nothing too crazy, though. One day, some students and I went on a nice little bike tour of the Danube. The day before, some friends and I played soccer with a group of creepy Turkish men, then about 30 little kids, then a group of college-age Macedonians. I'll never forget this little 5 or 6-year old boy telling me something like "This is some motherfucking shit." Those kids had heart, tons of energy, and awful English potty-mouths.

Ah, two nights ago history was made here in Vienna. Not like Vienna has enough history to pride itself on, the city's subway system (the U-Bahn) began running all night long. I was under the impression that the trains always stop running at around 1 in the morning during the summers - I was dead wrong. As of two nights ago, the U-Bahn will always be running. That night actually was historic in another way. I spent a few hours with around fifteen or so Viennese 16-year olds. Nice kids. When the maturity level plummeted, I was forced to "pull a Daniel" and got the hell away from them.

Today, I can honestly say I accomplished only one thing. One big thing, though. At around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I got on the Standing-Room Only Ticket line for the Vienna State Opera. After a few hours of waiting and slowly getting some German homework done, I got my 4 Euro ticket. My first true, full-length opera experience was a 4-hour affair, I suppose each hour cost me a Euro. It was Wagner's Tannhauser. Prettttaaay prettaay prettay pretty good. To think that he wrote that in the 1840s....crazy. There were lots of interesting harmonic and orchestral nuances that I've only heard in Berlioz, from that era at least. During the breaks, I wandered around the beautiful opera house checking out every possible view and marveling at the trombones and rotary valved trumpets in the orchestra pit.


I'm thinkin' about getting one of those I HEART Vienna shirts. Hehe. No, no I would never. I do, however, heart Vienna.

A Somewhat Distant but Unforgettable Memory

Today marks the two-week anniversary of the conclusion of my Jury Duty experience. On July 28th, I took the M9 bus from my Stuyvesant Town building to the depths of Manhattan's Financial District. I wasn't particularly excited to be locked in a dimly lit room full of strangers for seven-ish hours, but I was more than enthralled to get away from the bustling life of camp counseling.

After two or three hours of iPod shuffling and solitary Solitaire-playing, I was chosen to move into ----- THE NEXT ROOM. Twenty of us were packed into a room small enough to be a a decent-sized closet where we waited impatiently for something to happen. Three men waltzed in - the first, your typical gray-haired Jew with a distinctive schnoz. The second, a bulky, tan and wise-looking fellow with a voice that would soon bellow. The third, a fidgety and comical Irishman. The trio proceeded to tell us of their "big, big" case involving a personal injury lawsuit. Just wonderful.

After a long, exciting, and boring 8-day trial we, the jury (including the frail, 100-year old possibly narcoleptic lady) and I (yes, I, Daniel Simon Rutkowski anxiously read the verdict aloud in front of the jury, the court officer, the lawyers, the judge, and the three or four audience members), awarded Oscar Cuevas a nice check of a little less than $1.1 million. Not a bad sum for sitting in the back of a fairly chilly courtroom for about a week.

Some of my memorable quotes:

"Your honor, he's not answering my question - I move to strike." - Mr. Wasserman
"Now, Mr. Pessalano, are you being compensated for appearing in court today? And how much are you be compensated? Now uh, have you appeared in a court with a jury such as this one before? Can you approximate for me and the members of the jury, around how many times you have appeared in a courtroom such as this?" - Mr. Wasserman
"You can use a wrench, right? You can hammer a nail, right? You can drive a car, right?!? So, why can't you work?!?!?!" - Mr. O'Connor
"This is Oscar Cuevas's life. This is his life." - Mr. Silverstein
"Objection, your honor. Is he going to calm down?" - Mr. Silverstein
"Mr. O' Connor, please...just, take it down a few notches. - Judge Shulman
"Alright now, members of the jury. Thank you for your patience and attention. I'm going to charge you now, then you will go into deliberation." - Judge Shulman


It's a good thing the case ended on August 17th because I was on a plane to Vienna on the 18th. Naturally, I didn't have much time to tell any American pals of mine this drawn-out, tedious, but overall wonderful happening.