‘Begin the New Year’ in Vienna with ACT4  
        Vienna, the capital of Austria is at the same time the republic's smallest and most populous state (pop.
1,516,000), home to almost 1/5 of all Austrians. The size of the city, which goes back about 2,000 years to
the Roman Border strong-hold of Vindobona, is a vestige of the 640 years during which Vienna was the
center of power of the Habsburg empire which, by the late 19th century, encompassed all of central Europe
and more than 50 million people. The splendor of imperial days still pervades Vienna; little of it has been
lost in the last 70 years. The Baroque of 18th-century Vienna gloriosa remains dominant in the prospect, the
visual impression of the city. Fascinating art treasures fill palaces, churches, museums. Opera houses and
concert halls resound with the music created in Vienna during the hey-day of the empire. A proper social
event, to this day, means waltzing the night away at a palace, a gala of august elegance. And the pace at
which locals and guests savor the good life of the city is still very much of the good old days.
        Many of Vienna’s prime sights are within easy walking distance in the Old Quarter, the core of the city
formerly inside the mighty walls. At the very center of the Old City is St. Stephen’s, a soaring cathedral built
in magnificent Gothic from the 12th to the 16th centuries. From this landmark church, the pedestrians-only
shopping streets of Graben and Kohlmarkt lead to the Imperial Palace, a focal point of European History
through the ages. The Imperial Treasuries, recently refurbished, display the crown jewels of the empire; at
the Chapel, the Vienna Boys’ Choir sings mass on Sunday mornings; the fabulous Spanish Riding School
performs in one wing; a stylish convention center, the unique Ephesus Museum with classical antiquities
from Asia Minor and the Ethnological Museum share space in the New Palace.
        Just across the Ring, the grand boulevard created after 1857 when the formidable walls that had
protected Vienna for centuries were razed, is the Museum of Fine Arts, one of the foremost collections of
Egyptian antiquities, paintings, sculptures and decorative art in the world. A short distance outside the Ring,
more key sights beckon: the magnificent Church of St. Charles Borromea; Belvedere Palace, a sprawling,
lavish complex of beautiful buildings connected by fountains and formal gardens which houses art museums dedicated to several major periods.
        The most popular sight of them all is a few miles to the west of the Old Quarter: Schönbrunn palace, the
summer retreat of the Habsburg dynasty for better than 200 years. Of the 1,441 rooms in the palace, about
45 are on display in the course of a tour of the State Rooms.
        Vienna ranks at the very top among the world’s cultural capitals. The season never ends - the State Opera
presents the classical repertoire, the Volksoper German opera and the vibrant Viennese operetta almost
300 evenings a year, from September through June; concerts are scheduled practically very night at the
Musikverein or the Konzerthaus, at palaces and community centers and schools. Except during sum-mer
vacations, the Vienna Boys’ Choir sings mass every Sunday morning at the Chapel of the Imperial Palace.
White Lippisian stallions show classical dressage set to music at the Spanish Riding School.
        Special treats: ride the sedate 90-year old Giant Ferris Wheel in the famous Prater for a panoramic view
from more than 200 feet up, attend a waltz concert at the Stadtpark or on a river boat move on the Danube
Canal, explore the café culture and relax at a Kaffeehaus, visit the lovely little Clock Museum and learn the
history of keeping time. On Saturday, Jan. 6, 2000, join the optional all day Vienna Cultural/Educational
tour including 'A journey through the HOUSE OF MUSIC VIENNA' which invites to a musical journey where
music will be heard, seen, felt and experienced in both real and virtual experience rooms. Let your ears
take a stroll - visitors find themthelves again in a 'prenatal sensory rush', confronted  with their first musical
experience in the womb in order to be brought closer to the fundamentals of music. Following  visitors step
into larger than life musical insturments and discover various noises, sounds and tones. Seven significant
musical characters - Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, J. Strauss, Mahler, Schönberg are revisited by
means of documents, models, costumes... the virtual conductor allows you to conduct the Vienna
Philharmonic orchestra yourself... be acclaimed.. or reprimanded if your conducting is poor or misleading...;
the Brain Opera - conceived and penned by the Professor of Composition at MIT (Media Laboratory), Tod
Machover - shows visitors a possible future of music and music making. It invites to become a music
creator of the future. The Mind Forest's hyper-instruments, stimulated by movement, touch and voices, turn
every amateur into a musician. This extraordinary experience is followed by lunch in a typical Viennese
restaurant, a guided visit to the Imperial Palace at Schönbrunn, an 'Apfel Strudel' baking demonstration and
a drive through nightly Vienna.

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