Bericht aus Graz

I don't intend to report much on my doings here this summer because they are much like last summer. The program is now in full swing. I have a great studio and enjoy my work. I love being in this pleasant and civilized city. Along with coaching I also deliver a series of six lectures on Lied composers and, in celebration of the 40th anniversary year of AIMS in Graz, I am doing a special lecture/recital entitled "Liederkomponisten in Graz". For this event I have had to enlist a number of vocalists to sing the selections I require. But I managed to line up someone for every Lied I want to have sung on the program.
Ever since I got here it has been hot, with no end in sight. The mid 90's (that's 34 Celsius) may not sound too bad to someone in the States, but there is no air-conditioning here. We live in the heat all day. Fortunately, it cools off at night. And Austrians (along with the Germans) have a silly superstition that a draft will make you sick, so they close all the windows. The street cars are stifling. Last night we went out to the fabulous Eggensberger Schloss for the gala reception. The Baroque castle (actually built as a hunting lodge) never fails to impress. The surrounding park is gorgeous. There was a (thankfully) short program in the Planetensaal, the splendid hall. The candles were lit to re-create the proper atmosphere and, of course, they closed all the windows! It must have been 110 in there.
The other day I experienced a little encounter that reminded me how different the Austrians are from the Germans. I went to the university music library, to which we have access, to find some music. I only needed to copy two pages. There is the usual set-up with a copy machine for which one needs to buy a card. Not wanting to go through all that for two pages, I asked the nice man at the desk what the procedure was. He pulled out a card, apparently left over or discarded and said: Here, use this, it still has a few copies left on it. It was a kind and helpful thing to do. From my experience, and that of others, such helpfulness would be unlikely in Germany. There, you would be scolded and told what the rules were. The Germans can be insufferably narrow, unbending, petty and downright rude. I never experience that here in Austria.