More Mozart

Mozart arias in 18th century costume and a candle light dinner served in the style of Mozart’s day, was a highlight of our seven year old’s birthday bonanza and our little Mozart squealed with delight and jumped for joy when I first told her that we might do this.

When we saw pictures online of them dressed in their red costumes in an elegant room at St Peter Stiftskeller (open  since 803) and read about the music and how they served the food just as they would have eaten in Mozart's day, it seemed a great opportunity to learn some more, through an entertaining experience, about the real Mozart. We had no idea that it would also possess an international flair or be so good.

We originally booked it through the hotel for Thursday night while we were staying there, but soon decided to change that an opt for the Chinese food and a night in, so that we could make the most of that experience and not miss a bit. We were able to switch it to Friday night, although, it put us in a bit of a bind because the only “Sound of Music” tour that we could take after our leisurely breakfast/brunch started at two and ended at six.

We decided to go for both, but it was a busy day. We had a taxi driver take us and our luggage back to our RV and wait for us so that we could go right back to the hotel where the tour bus would pick us up. Then after the “Sound of Music” tour we quickly caught a cab and had him wait for us while we quickly changed into our evening clothes in about a minute and then take us to St Peters.

Two out of the three taxi's that we took in Salzburg were driven by women and that pleased Mozart as she has asked several times over these many months why women do not drive cabs. I told her that sometimes they do and now she finally saw it for herself as we take taxi’s quite a bit at night which she prefers to buses.

Did I ever mention that I love velour? Mozart and I both have black velour outfits for dress up events in cold climates and they work like a charm. They never wrinkle and they always look good, so ideal for the traveling lifestyle. We just crunch them up in the far back of the closet during the summer months and pull them out when needed. DaVinci leans on his black Exofficio pants that can be used for operas or walks in the park in every weather.

We really did not expect this event to be as good as it was. The young male singer was exceptionally talented (and handsome!) altho both their voices were young and need some seasoning. He looked like he was in his late teens and she looked in her twenties. I wish my pictures could capture it better, but I have no flash, so they came out really dark and one misses the vibrant nature of the event. The musicians were all clearly talented and seemed to enjoy performing and their appreciative audience.

I expected the food to taste like typical banquet food and the opera singing to be more like University level, but we found both much better. We are not connoisseurs of opera, as we only started seeing them when Mozart started asking for them at a year, so perhaps others would feel differently, but we were very pleased, as was everyone at our table. It was an event well worth the money and effort. One of the cute moments was when the taxi driver who drove us pointed to a young ponytailed blond girl running with her viola, as she was one of our performers who was running a little late and taking a short cut.

We got there early as we wanted to get good seats as Mozart likes to be able to see things. Once again she was the only child in the whole large room (except for one two year old who quickly left) which I think is a shame as it is a venue grammar school kids should enjoy and be exposed to. Mozart loved it and felt like a bit of a princess to be at such a grown up affair and dinner. I liked how history became alive for her thru the costumes, food and music.

The Stiffskeller St. Peter lies in the historic center of Salzburg and is known as the oldest restaurant in Europe. We know the Mozart family ate and played there as his sister “Nannerl” wrote about it her diary (which pleased our Mozart as she is a diary keeper too). We enjoyed the 18th century recipes, especially the roasted capon with truffle sauce and cream soup flavored with lemon and cinnamon. We savored this three-course-meal and the culinary delights and setting did whisk one back to another place and time.

There were five musicians and two opera singers all dressed in period costumes who played  the most popular arias and duets from the operas The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro. Our little Mozart has loved The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro from babyhood as the Met versions were her favorite toddler videos, so the music was familiar to her. It was a three-part program that also included movements from Mozart’s Divertimenti and A little Night Music with all of it by candle light.

When we first arrived there was just one other couple from Germany at our table. We soon learned that he had been a music teacher and that they had just gotten married a week before and were on their honeymoon. Friends had given them the tickets for this event as a present. Later three women arrived who lived in Galicia, Spain and Mozart was thrilled to have someone to talk to in Spanish and they seemed to enjoy her too as they spoke very little English. DaVinci sat next to them and enjoyed Spanish conversation as well. He and Mozart even got to be translators between the English and Spanish speakers at our table.

Like most Spanish people they seem to love children and they even got into singing with Mozart when she sang the new Spanish song that she had learned in Dubrovnik at the kids club. One of them gave Mozart an “I love New York” pen which she loves. When they found out it was a birthday celebration dinner for her, they sang her Happy Birthday in Spanish which she adored.

The last couple were retired Americans from Rhode Island and Florida, who were excited travelers that we swapped tips with. She asked us to take their picture, so we remembered to ask her to take one of all of us at this special dinner. It’s another one of the three of us that turned out pretty good even though it is dark. We do not have too many decent ones of these with the three of us, so we cherish them.

We had a few days that were just full of Mozart. We toured through the home where Mozart was born as well as the home where they lived when they had a little more money from his touring. I preferred the second home better as they had more interesting objects like his pianos and a lovely film and they tried to be a little too arty in his birth home. We all did the audio guides and Mozart manage to pick up some more souvenirs at their shops like a Mozart t-shirt, ruler and eraser and postcards with pictures of the whole family.

We also went to the wax museum which was mostly about the life of Mozart, his time and his music, with “Magic Flute” being of special importance. It was another example of Austria's love of technology and also was a little “gone awry”. The escalator was not working, so there were lots of high steps as all museums are on several floors in Salzburg. We would have skipped this without a kid, but a little history was learned in an entertaining way, so a positive for children.

These were all good things that set her up nicely for our special night in “The Magic Flute” room and it was almost like doing a unit study on Mozart in a way that was packed with fun for a child. It is a theme that can be carried through in coming up Prague and Vienna, where Mozart also lived and worked and music is rich in the history and culture.

I did not know that when we decided to take nicknames for the blog that it would have such an impact on our little Mozart. Leonardo DaVinci, Jeanne D'Arc  and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart all mean so much more to Mozart now as they are personally part of her world and she delights in knowing more about their real lives. Her eagle eyes never miss one of these names seen in print anywhere and she very excitedly points it out to us as if it had our real names on it. She got to feel very connected to the “everything Mozart” style of Salzburg, as if it was done just for her.