Les Talens Lyriques had been welcoming schoolchildren to listen to their rehearsals. These children had been visiting the Cité de la Musique and the Musée de la Musique. By attending a small part of our rehearsal, the students were able to experience the sound (and working environment) of a period-instrument orchestra. It is fantastic that young people are being introduced to the Cité de la Musique as it is so important that they feel included in these cultural activities. The Cité de la Musique has the mission of 'promoting all forms of musical creation and of transmitting these to widely diverse sectors of the public’ and in my experience, it is certainly achieving that.













The parts for Les Horaces were excellent but the opera was really quite complex - the recitatives often blurred into or out of arias or choruses without any obvious or audible change of movement - so we decided that we would feel safer following a violin part in-between our entries. Generously, the sheet music for Les Horaces is free to download on a Creative Commons Attribution License, as the scores were published with the support of la Fondation d'Entreprise Philippine de Rothschild.


This was my first visit to Vienna and I was so excited to be there. I enjoyed wandering from the hotel through the MuseumsQuartier and the Hofburg Palace to explore the city. I had decided to stay for a few days after the final performance and my girlfriend had travelled out to join me. Together we explored the cultural delights of Vienna, including the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Despite the crowded room, viewing Vermeer’s iconic painting - 'The Art of Painting’ - sent shivers down my spine. The image depicts an artist in his studio, painting a woman dressed in blue, standing in front of a map of the low countries, holding a large tome and a natural trumpet. Vermeer obviously had an affinity towards this painting as he never sold it during his lifetime. There were rooms full of incredible objects: fine ivory carvings, Ancient Egyptian paraphernalia, ornate engravings and reposée work, and other incredibly famous paintings - including my girlfriend's favourite: a portrait of Jane Seymour from 1536 by Hans Holbein the younger.



We explored several of Vienna’s cafés and restaurants, including some of the famous ones: Demel Hofzuckerbäcker, Figlmüller, Café Mozart and Trześniewski. Another highlight was wandering around the vibrant Naschmarkt.






The ticket for the Kunsthistorisches Museum also permitted entrance to the Collection of Historic Musical Instruments in the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek building next-door. This is another fine example of an instrument museum and there are some wonderful brass instruments and cornetti here. The trumpets, horns and trombones of the Viennese brass-instrument maker Michael Leichamschneider were on display...






...along with two more trumpets by Anton Schnitzer, one of brass, shaped like a pretzel and the other (from 1581) of gilded silver, in the more usual format, with the most intricate decoration I have ever seen on a trumpet.

Seeing the two Schnitzer trumpets in Vienna, in addition to the one I had seen in Paris, leaves only one more of his trumpets to see: the trumpet from 1585, in the Accademia Filarmonica in Verona.

Visiting the Musée de la Musique in Paris and the Collection of Historic Musical Instruments in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna in such quick succession was fantastic and it punctuated the trip with similarities and differences.

It was great to explore Vienna with no fixed deadlines. We spent one morning at the wonderful Schönbrunn Palace. Reminiscent of the earlier trip to Versailles, this visit gave a certain symmetry to the trip for me. This tour had featured Salieri, Chandeliers, Schnitzer and Schnitzel and it was an unforgettable experience. It was great to meet so many new people and to explore these fantastic places and cultures. Thanks to all at Les Talens Lyriques for organising it.