Summertime - and the living is easy?

Here, I think, DuBose Heyward was partly wrong. Life is not all that easy as an opera lover since you are deprived of your everyday dose of culture during the summer. The doors of the beloved houses that provide music on the highest level stay closed (whatever happens in there during those months will remain a mystery - secret techno clubbings are my guess) and one has to come up with alternative ideas of indulging in the arts.

One of the few reasons why one should be happy to be living in a country like Austria is that one is offered a few alternatives in this regard. In the next months I shall share my explorations of these alternatives.

Film Festival in front of Vienna's city hall

My favorite alternative to bypass cultural summer dullness is the Film Festival am Wiener Rathausplatz as it can be attended spontaneously and without burdening your budget. Here opera, concert and ballet performances (mixed with a little pop culture here and there) are shown every night from July until September. The presenters make sure not to forget the big names of opera. Hence, you can spend 3 hours of your warm summer evenings with Juan Diego Flórez, Anna Netrebko or Jonas Kaufmann - without paying extortionate entrance fees. You're in for a treat on September 3 when they'll broadcast a Simone Boccanegra live from the Wiener Staatsoper with the likes of Plácido Domingo, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Barbara Frittoli.

How often have you wished to have an alcoholic beverage handy during a performance? This is the chance for you! For lovers of food and drinks this film festival will make your heart beat faster as you will be able to see a world class performance whilst enjoying half a liter of wine cooler (or more) and food from one of the numerous food stands. And for the nostalgics amongst you who miss the shushers from your local opera house for the more authentic opera experience you will most certainly find some of them here as well trying to establish quiet in a public place like this.