Composer, interpreter and conductor Pierre Boulez is unquestionably the most important “serious” musical figure of the last seven decades
No one ever accused Pierre Boulez of being easy listenin’. Despite that, the French composer, interpreter and conductor remains arguably the most influential figure in modern classical music of the entire post-war period. His significance continues still today, deep into the 21st...
Isabel Coixet recreates Penelope Fitzgerald’s novel on the power of literature for the big screen
Even in this movie-mad city, the Filmcasino on Margaretenstraße, with its lush curves and golden glow of 1950s modernism, is a winner for charm – all the more for its international films in the original language.
Thus it is the perfect setting for Isabel Coixet’s The...
At the Kunsthalle, The Promise of Total Automation imagines the shape of things to come
An intriguing attempt to parse the possible futures headed our way, The Promise of Total Automation at the Kunsthalle examines the implications of our age of change. It’s what the curators call “the allure of an automated life” that is renegotiating the terms of what...
Part I: Where to buy new English books in Vienna
Finding bookstores that sell English books in Vienna is no problem. Here's a few of our favorites.
For me there are few pleasures that surpass the simple joy of browsing a bookstore. Different colored spines with intriguing titles line the shelves. Familiar authors entice you with their latest works, almost like...
The Albertina displays a different view of Egon Schiele's oeuvre.
The cultural landscape of Vienna is indelibly marked by the work of Egon Schiele, and the superb collection of his paintings at the Leopold Museum remains a fixture on any tour of the city. His prodigious output of more than 330 paintings and over 2,500 drawings is all the more...
In The Vanquished, Robert Gerwarth attempts a more nuanced look at WW1 and why the carnage didn’t end in 1918.
On September 11, 1919, Gabriele D’Annunzio, one of the most brilliant Italian poets of his day and a decorated war hero, drove to Fiume in a bright red Fiat. Leading an army of 2,000 irregulars, formed ad hoc, he set...
The Weltmuseum revises our approach to ethnology while celebrating our diversity
As the world changes, so do our perspectives; nothing seems as archaic as yesterday’s attitudes. In our increasingly globalized world, this goes doubly for our perception of different cultures: So when the venerable Völkerkundemuseum (Museum of Ethnology) temporarily closed its doors at the Hofburg three years ago, the intention...
An eclectic mix of cinema's finest, at one of the summer's hottest hangouts
Any summer spent in Vienna pretty much requires a visit to the Museums Quartier: whether it’s for an exhibition, a late-night drink with friends or a bite to eat, the large open courtyard beckons with an expansive range of activities. For a decade now however, the quiet...
A darkly relevant play about a clash of disparate cultures with more in common than first meets the eye.
With Vienna in a mood of high alert after the deadly Islamist attacks in Paris on November 13, and the violent sexual assaults on hundreds of German women by alcohol-fueled migrants at the Cologne Train Station on New Year’s Eve, relevance...
