The Belvedere Palace has an interesting history. It was built by Prince Eugene of Savoy, Austria's most successful military leader. It is because of Prince Eugene's military victories that the Ottoman Turks were turned away from Europe and forced back into present-day Turkey back in the 17th century. Because of this the Austrian Hapsburg rulers showered the Prince with honors and also much wealth. It is with this money that he built the Belvedere Palace.
Our group on the front steps.
We could not film or take photographs inside the palace, but we did take a tour with a guide who showed us the highlights of the collection, including Klimt's most famous work, The Kiss. Afterwards the students walked through the palace grounds and formal gardens. The Belvedere has beautiful gardens, not quite as extensive as Schönbrunn, but still impressive.
In the evening there was a special performance of Verdi's opera Rigoletto at the Theater an der Wien (Theater on the Vienna River), sponsored by the Wiener Festwochen (Vienna Festival), which has been going on during our visit. The Theater an der Wien is an especially important theater in Vienna. It was built by Emanuel Schikaneder, who talked Mozart into writing The Magic Flute for his suburban company. He also wrote the libretto for The Magic Flute and was the very first Papageno (a major character in the opera). He built the Theater an der Wien with the money he made from producing The Magic Flute. It was built in 1801. Here is Drew in his box seat.
A view of the stage.
The performance was outstanding, and the production was a joint effort between the Theater an der Wien and New York's Metropolitan Opera. Here is the final curtain call.
Another great day. Another great performance!
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