TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHY: GREGORY DOWNER
f you're hungry after a performance at the Salzburger Festspiele, just follow one of the singers or conductors--you may need a fast Vespa, but they'll lead you to the finest eateries in Salzburg.
One mustn't judge this festival town by its high-season day-trippers and gemütliche shops alone. A fifteen-minute drive in almost any direction promises breathtaking vistas that reaffirm that nature was indeed the inspiration for centuries of poetry and great music.
The environs are dotted with alpine lakes and running streams. What a luxury to dine alfresco here!
First-time visitors who expect to find wursts and Wienerschnitzel won't be disappointed, but they are often surprised to find almost "spa-like" menus of simply prepared fresh fish--the bounty of the surrounding waters.
Seehotel Winkler is a comfortable restaurant and inn located about 20 kilometers from Salzburg's center on tranquil Wallersee, a six- square-kilometer glacial lake. It's a favorite spot of all the performers. Last July, word got out via
cellphone networking that Opera News was coralling the cast of the new Martin Kusej Don Giovanni for a Sunday-afternoon supper. Not only did the Giovanni crew arrive, stray baritones and mezzos from sundry other shows turned up. Come to think of it, a few singers showed who weren't even singing in Austria!
Proprietor Rudi Winkler greeted us with a lightly sparkling Italian prosecco. Appetizers making the rounds included two soups:Fritattensuppe, thin crepe noodles in a clear beef broth, and Krebsenrahmsuppe mit Knoblauchbrot, a light cream-of-crab potion served with garlic toasts. While cream soup may not be standard fare on a hot July afternoon, this hit the spot.
Shrimpssalat mit Knoblauch und Olivenöl was mid-sized chilled Greenland shrimp with field greens in a garlic and olive-oil dressing. The winner, however, was the Carpaccio von Saibling und Lachsforelle mit Rieslingwurzeln, paper-thin carpaccio of char and lake trout topped with shredded root vegetables and sprouts in a riesling dressing. Order two.
The circulating white wines were both grüner veltliners from the Wachau: Steinfeder Hutter 2001 and Knoll Federspiel 2001.
Brook char, trout, carp and catfish all figure prominently on the menu, but the attending troupe unanimously selected Zander-- a moderately firm, flaky white pike/perch fished daily from the lake. Perfectly grilled, fileted at table and dressed with Senfsauce, a mustard butter, it is a house specialty, and justly so.
Dessert was Winkler's unparalleled Palatschinken -- featherweight crepes filled with a thin layer of homemade apricot preserve, served warm and drizzled sparingly with melted chocolate.
Topping? Schlagobers, natürlich!
Dinner at Winkler ranges in price from E 6 to 10 for appetizers; main courses from E 12 to 22 (some fish by weight). Wines are reasonably priced. (At press time, one Euro was equal to $1.07.) SEEHOTEL WINKLER NEUMARKT AM WALLERSEE Telephone: (011 43) 6216 5270 G.D.
For more information, see www.seehotel.at.
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fifty-minute drive northwest of Vienna brings you to the Wachau---- Austria's smallest but most important wine region. The Danube River slice
s through a forty-kilometer stretch of mineral-rich hills terraced with vineyards on both banks. Some of the finest white wines in the world are produced here.
Hot summer days are countered by cool evening breezes from the northern woods, and by the river itself. These extremes in
temperature are ideal for the riesling and grüner veltliner grapes. The soil of the slopes contains granite, gneiss and schist and lends itself to the riesling grape. Vintners have found the more loamy, sandy soil closer to the river's bank to be better suited to Austria's unique and elegant grüner veltliner.
Grüner veltliner is something of a mystery even to sophisticated American wine drinkers. Many mistake it for a curious chardonnay or pinot blanc, but a great vintage of Franz Hirtzberger's grüner, for example, could be described as a complex, perfectly balanced profusion of dried flowers, minerals, fruit and fresh acidity.
These substantial whites should be treated like reds.
They deserve aging, but if temptation proves too great, decant them for maximum appreciation. The rich, creamy texture of Fred Loimer's Grüner Veltliner Alte Reben (old vines) delivers its fullest bloom---- flower, melon and a white-pepper finish ---- after an hour of air. Other fine producers of the region include Prager, Domäne Wachau, Emmerich Knoll and F. X. Pichler. Even some of the lesser-known vintners such as Johann Donabaum (Spitz, Offenberg) produce superb rieslings of white-peach and plummy resonance.
The Wachau whites are a natural choice for chicken and fish dishes. Rudi Pichler's Weissburger (pinot blanc) may be the world's best accompaniment to lobster, brandishing notes of apple and pear but enough acidity to cut through your drawn butter. A lighter grüner veltliner such as Knoll's Federspiel holds its own with Chinese or even Cajun food.
While these wines have received wide attention in the past ten years, it is still necessary to seek them out from more extensive purveyors. In the U.S., they range in price from about $15 to $100 for the most prized bottles.
Glenn Allen is the Austrian-wine expert of Crossroads Wines and Spirits in New York City.
All photos © Gregory Downer 2003
OPERA NEWS, May 2003 Copyright © 2003 The Metropolitan Opera Guild, Inc.
AUSTRIA THE SIGHTS AND SENSATIONS OF AUSTRIA'S MUSICAL CAPITALS,
VIENNA AND
SALZBURG THE SIGHTS AND SENSATIONS OF AUSTRIA'S MUSICAL CAPITALS,
VIENNA AND
SALZBURG
PRODUCED AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY GREGORY DOWNER Vienna
Wiener Staatsoper
With reconstruction of central Vienna in the mid-nineteenth century, the city's Imperial Court Opera moved into this neo-Renaissance masterpiece on the Ringstrasse, which opened in 1869, with Don Giovanni. Allied bombing in March 1945 destroyed much of the building. The rebuilt Oper am Ring reopened in 1955, with Karl Böhm conducting Fidelio, and remains one of Europe's busiest theaters, with more than forty operas in its 2002--03 repertory. www.wienerstaatsoper.at
* * The Café Life
CAFÉ CENTRAL
Herrengasse 14
Vaulted ceilings, music,
in a neo-Renaissance palace.
DEMEL
Kohlmarkt 14
Classic, elegant, expensive.
FRAUENHUBER
Himmelpfortgasse 6
Beethoven dined in this
Maria Theresa-era eatery.
CAFÉ HAWELKA
Dorotheegasse 6
Crowded, smoky but
popular landmark.
LEHMANN
Graben 12
Wiener "ladies who lunch"
love it; note the pastries below.
CAFÉ SCHWARTZENBERG
Kärntner Ring 17
Imperial Hotel crowd, opera
singers. Good breakfast.
CAFÉ SPERL
Gumpendorferstrasse 11
Vintage élan (left) and grand billiard tables.
*
Schloss Belvedere
The Oberes ("upper") Belvedere was completed by Prince EugÈne of Savoy in 1724 and used primarily for extravagant parties and fireworks displays.
Since 1955, it has been a state gallery, housing an important collection of paintings by Gustav Klimt and his circle. www.belvedere.at
Schloss Schönbrunn
Palmenhaus
Much of Schönbrunn, the vast summer residence of the Hapsburgs, was designed for the burgeoning needs of the Empress Maria Theresa (1717--80) ---- and her sixteen children and 1,500 courtiers. The graceful greenhouse was opened in 1882. www.schoenbrunn.at
Wiener Sängerknaben
The Vienna Boys' Choir is a thriving musical tradition that dates from 1498. Franz Joseph and Michael Haydn, Franz schubert, Anton bruckner and conductor Hans Richter all began their musical careers as choristers. Among today's choir members are (above, from top), Georg Kirchweger, Josef Ortner and Johannes Dober. www.wsk.at
Wiener Secession
The Wiener Secession movement (1897-1907) marked a break from Austria's conservative Künstlerhaus tradition. Artist Gustav Klimt was the first president of the movement, but it was architect Otto Wagner whose work had the profoundest influence on the face of Vienna, as in his dazzling Leopoldskirche am Steinhof (top left). His contemporary Joseph Maria Olbrich designed the Secession headquarters (left) in 1898, which contains Klimt's 1902 Beethoven Frieze.
The arts and crafts of this period are also known as 'Jugendstil' (youth style). www.secession.at
Musikverein
The Vienna Philharmonic Ball
Ball Season begins in Vienna on New Year's Eve and continues until Shrove Tuesday. Among the dignitaries applauding guest conductor Pierre Boulez at the Philharmonic Ball on January 23, 2003, was Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel. The Musikverein, home to the Vienna Philharmonic, was completed in 1867. The Grosser Saal, famous for its extraordinary acoustics, is familiar from the orchestra's New Year's Day concerts, which are televised worldwide. www.wienerphilharmoniker.at
Salzburg
Schloss Hellbrunn
Completed in 1619 as the summer retreat of Archbishop Markus Sitticus, Schloss Hellbrunn's amusing gardens are a seventeenth-century zoological water park. www.hellbrunn.at
Mozarteum
The concert hall of the Mozarteum University of Music and Dramatic arts (right),a perfect venue for soloists and smaller ensembles of the Salzburger Festspiele. www.moz.ac.at
Salzburger Festspiele
The Salzburg Festival
Felsenreitschule
The Summer Riding School: A massive conglomerate rock wall ----ninety-six arcades in three tiers ----was carved out of the town's Mönchsberg quarry as a spectator area for riding displays in the seventeenth century. Salzburg Festival founder Max Reinhardt first used the space as a venue for a Festival production in 1926. The rock wall is now the stage wall (left) of a 1,549-seat auditorium under a retractable roof.
Karl Böhm Saal
The Winter Riding School, dating from 1662, was converted into a reception area in 1926 (below). It is now named after the Austrian conductor Karl Böhm (1894-1981).
Kleines Festspielhaus
Originally built in 1925, the Small Festival Hall now incorporates architectural alterations made in 1963. Stagehands (above) prepare for last year's new production of Zemlinsky's Der König Kandaules; Designer Alfred Hrdlicka's monumental set (below), reflected by mirror and water. Audiences at intermission in front of the Festspielhaus complex, with the Mönchsberg cliff high above. The hall's Faistauerfoyer (below), with allegorical frescoes painted by Anton Faistauer in 1926.
The Salzburg Festival
Grosses Festspielhaus
The Large Festival Hall, designed by architect Clemens Holzmeister, opened in 1960. The proscenium's massive 100-meter width makes possible the vast scale of productions such as last season's new David Pountney/Johan Engels Turandot. Maestro Valery Gergiev (opposite) conducts a Turandot rehearsal with the Vienna Philharmonic, Gabriele Schnaut and Johan Botha (above). In addition to opera, the Salzburg Festival presents a wide variety of theater, concerts and recitals in venues throughout the city. www.salzburgfestival.at
Stag head, an ornamental detail
from Schloss Hellbrunn, Salzburg,
juxtaposed against
vitrine reflections of
Lobmeyr crystal, Vienna.
Confections from Lehmann, right.
CafÉ Sperl: The atmosphere is little changed
since Schoenberg, Zemlinsky, Klimt and Kokoschka klatched here.
A view of Salzburg and the surrounding countryside,
looking southwest from the eleventh-century Hohensalzburg
Fortress.www.viaimperialis.atCrab soup and shrimp salad
From top: Sun-drenched soprano Anna Netrebko, flanked by conductor William Lacey and bass-baritone Simone Alberghini; Baritone Simon Keenlyside;
tenor Michael Schade and wife, soprano Noreen Burgess; the Schades' daughter, Sophie; soprano Melanie Diener and husband, Friedemann Gabler;Baritone Luca Pisaroni and Catherine Herberstein
Proud proprietor Rudi Winkler and his view of Wallersee, top
Lake fish carpaccio
Grilled Zander
Palatschinken
A young riesling, served in Austria's own Riedel crystal----
the oenophile's world standard for tasting, above
(for a full selection of styles, check www.riedelcrystal.com);
Terraced vineyards of the Wachau, where93 percent of the wine produced is white, top
** Weisswurst at Weisse
Zanderfest!
FISH-FEASTING IN SALZBURG
The Wachau Whites
BY GLENN ALLEN
