Classical Chocolate

There is magic for me in Baroque classical music.  The layers, the weaving, the playfulness, the flirting between the notes, the musicians, the audience!  I am not a connoisseur of classical, but I know what makes me smile.. like some people smile when they eat chocolate.

I am not a late night person, in fact, I am not a night person at all.  With more than a little "encouragement" from Jeff, we bought tickets to hear a performance of Bach music in St. Stephen's Church in Vienna.  The concert started at 8:30pm! 

We had visited the cathedral the day before.  It has soaring ceilings, grey Gothic ornamentation dripping from every inch, the alter seemed a mile away, draped in the Holy Week purple, it was cold, dark and smelled of incense.

The night of the concert we had dinner in the NaschMarkt.  A fish place Jeff had scoped out earlier in the day.  We had a delicious dinner of "steinbutt", vegetables and I finally tried an "aperol prosecco".  Just as I was enjoying the afterdinner glow, it was time to go to the concert.  If we hadn't already bought the tickets, I would have argued to go back to the hotel and just relax for the evening.  We were committed...luckily!

What a wonderful concert!  It was great being in the church.  In spite of our inexpensive seats, we had a clear view of the "stage" and there were TV's projecting the performance as well.  The musicians were having fun, the music was lively enough to keep me awake.  It was restorative to sit next to Jeff and listen to genius compositions in a cathedral in Vienna.  Magic.

I smiled.  Chocolate anyone?