Joseph Cowan is a senior bassoonist in the Luther College Symphony Orchestra and he is majoring in Art. Here is his take on yesterday’s adventures: 

Another excellent day in Vienna following our performance in Bratislava included for me a visit to the Schmetterling Haus (Butterfly Garden), the Kunsthistorisches (Art History Museum), and a concert at Konzerthaus given by the Vienna Symphony.

The Butterfly garden is in a plaza across the street from the great art museum. Despite some negative reviews online of it being more of a butterfly graveyard than a butterfly garden there were actually very many large butterflies in the Art Nouveau greenhouse that were alive and happily feasting on ripe bananas. However, it appears the butterflies smelled fear on my companion. The schmetterlings can be aggressive.

The Kunsthistorisches Museum is one of the great art museums in Europe, housing hall after hall of Imperial treasure -- clockwork ships, golden salt and pepper holders, virtuosic sculptures made from walrus ivory. The orchestra was given a guided tour with the guide’s voice coming through an earpiece so that he could whisper sweet nothings to us about Canova, and Theseus bludgeoning the centaur, and Raphael and so on. The picture galleries had a large number of Italian and Dutch baroque masterpieces. One of my favorite Vermeers, The Art of Painting exceeded expectation.

This museum allows artists to copy pictures, and so you can sometimes see people painting precise copies. The painters, it seems, are able to make a nearly exact reproduction by eye (for study, not fraud, I assume).

Tonight's concert at the Konzerthaus was brilliant, featuring Yuja Wang on Schumann's piano concerto who gave not one, but two encores. Shostakovich's 10th symphony was also great. I like watching the principal double bassist furiously bowing. The audience clapped and clapped. Afterwards there was quite a crowd forming around conductor Lorenzo Viotti's room where there were many autographs signed and pictures taken (The excitement had nothing to do with him being very handsome, I'm sure). 

-Joseph

Our next performance is tonight in Eisenstadt, Austria! Thank you for following us on our journey. 

-Rachel and Briana