Here’s Debbie, back with another theatre review.

Of the top 10 things to do in Vienna, attending a classical concert in a church that dates back hundreds of years is high on the list.

As fortune would have it, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons was advertised at the Karlskirche during the time we were in Vienna. Serendipitously, Karlskirche (St. Charles Church) was a mere five blocks from our rental apartment. Once again, we scurried for tickets, laying out 25 Euro, or about $36.00 each for the most affordable seats which we felt was most adequate given our collective lack of musical ability. We picture beautiful strains of music in a grand cathedral with a large and knowledgeable audience.

Again, we eat supper early for our big night out. It is a dark, cold, rainy evening. Once again, we arrive early to get the best of the poorest seats. We enter through the magnificent marble entry into a gorgeous, stately, white and gold domed cathedral with ornate and intricate paintings on the walls and dome ceilings. We find our seats in the pews in the front of the back section. The cathedral fills up with a majority of locals (some dressed very well for a classy evening out) and a few tourists.

The 10 musicians and one vocalist entered the front alter area and, precisely on time, the concert began. For one and a quarter hours, beautiful notes swirled around the cathedral, some energetic and some slow and soothing, I suspect to reflect the emotions of the four seasons. Now, let’s be honest – none of our party could really identify Bach from Beethoven from Mozart from Vivaldi. And none of our party could really identify if the musicians were ‘tight’ in their performance. But we do know that, to us, this concert was perfect. On a cold, rainy night in Vienna, we were all together, in an amazing cathedral, listening to classical music, feeling soothed and peaceful.

We exited the cathedral with clarity of mind – there was no doubt after this concert. It was brilliant!