Bye bye, Vienna!

Don't worry, I'm not leaving my fabulous job and I'm not leaving my "Wahlheimat" (chosen country to live in). This means that I continue to be in love with Vienna, where I'll be every day for work, but I'll commute every day from a small city in Lower Austria, half-way between Vienna and my house. I was thinking to move out from the Viennese apartment, where I spent the last six years and half, since I own a house in the countryside. The deciding event was the cost (not the rent) rise between Christmas and New Year. Does it make any sense, giving away so much money just to be in the capital city? Furthermore, I needed a change. Since I moved abroad, I’ve never been working longer than three years in the same place. I don’t have such a stress anymore, but I had to change routine for a while.

Easter tree in the main square

It took some time finding the "right" apartment. Even when all the criteria were fulfilled  I had the feeling that it wasn't it. Finally, I found a good solution that made both my brain and my stomach agree. Other than the vicinity to the railway station, as I’ll have to commute daily to Vienna and more than weekly to my house, and the quietness of the third floor with none over my head (for the first time since I live abroad), this tiny (smaller than the previous one) apartment presents some luxury, such as a window in the bathroom and large roof windows in the living room. The apartment comes also with a huge bike-garage and a large storage place underneath the roof.

Everything seems fine and easy. It is never the case, especially in Austria, where bureaucracy is as much beloved as the waltz. First issue, quitting the rent for the apartment in Vienna. After two months and despite a registered mail, the house management did not send the confirmation of the end of the contract, fixing a day for the key return, until I sent an angry e-mail and called several times, each time speaking with different (but equally incompetent) people. No comment! Second issue, quitting the insurance for the apartment in Vienna. It can be done only with a document proving that I get out, i.e., I had to wait for the house management. Third issue, ending the contract for electricity in the Vienna apartment. This can be done online a couple of weeks before the end of the renting contract, but the house management asked not to quit, preferring to transfer to contract to the new tenant. All this is for the apartment that I left, but almost the same tasks are required for the new apartment: renting contract, official registration, payment of the estate agent, new insurance, new contract for electricity and heating, etc. In addition, I had to find a moving company to transport my belongings, including the precious (for practicing) and heavy digital organ.

the main church

Packing things lasted weeks. In seven years, I collected more than what I had when I moved from Brussels. Such a move always offers the opportunity to "clean" the house, trashing, reselling or giving away what is not necessary. It does not make any sense to keep everything. The transportation of the remaining objects and furniture went fine, the moving company was quite professional and on time, and two friends of mine helped me with dismounting and mounting the furniture. 

The first weeks in the new apartment went good, commuting is practical and faster than for some friends living in Vienna but at the border of the city. Just the Easter week, due to construction works, some trains were deviated along another line and the journey took ca. 10 minutes longer. The city is flat and small, allowing to bike around, but it offers everything I need, from shopping malls to theaters and churches. I didn't regret the decision to move here, so far.

The adventures of the rolling reed organ

Prologue

My collection of musical instruments is expanding. In Italy, I left a digital organ and an East-Germany piano, bought by my parents during my school years, not mentioning the mandolin inherited from my grandfather and other small instruments. As soon as I moved abroad, 12 years ago, I bought a digital keyboard to practice at home. I also purchased two recorders and a mandolin in these years. Two years ago, after buying another digital organ for my viennese flat, I gave away the keyboard, hoping that it will help a friend to learn playing. Then, I had to think of the house on the mountains. I was looking for an instrument with a keyboard and that could possibly play without requiring electricity. The piano is too loud, too expensive for transportation and very sensitive to temperature and humidity. Then, a young organist met in Vienna suggested to go for a reed organ (Harmonium in German). I was skeptical at the beginning, I had played one in Brussels and I remember some from the time in Italy, but I was not quite impressed and such instruments are out of production since decades. I gave it a try, I learned something about the instrument from him and the internet, and I finally convinced myself that a kind of accordion but as large as a piano could be what I was looking for. I began to search for a second hand instrument on the internet.

The purchase

I checked the second hand market website for Austria for months, but I was not convinced by any of the announcements. Then, I contacted the person selling an Estey, an American reed organ, because I had the feeling that the instrument had been taken care of. I went to check it and it looked in a good condition. Quite big, with a lot of stops, but with a warm and gentle sound. The owner was a very kind educated lady, who was not playing the organ anymore and wished that it was sold to someone able to play it further. Done, I take it.

The transportation

Happy for the decision, I had to find a way to carry the organ to the country side. Many (more or less) professional companies asked quite a lot of money, even more than the price of the instrument, and many friends' car was too small to fit the instrument. Finally, I found a Romanian guy, who offered to help for a reasonable price. It was complicated to fix a day compatible with my, his and the owner's agenda, but we manage it.

current situation

The reed organ was actually heavier than imagined. A couple of friends and the seller were so kind to help me bringing the instrument to the street and loading it on the truck. The journey went fine, but the surprise was waiting at the destination: not only there was a heavy snowstorm, but it had continued for hours, so that the ground and the roads were covered by a thick layer of compacted snow. No way, the truck didn't manage to reach the house. The slope was too steep. We decided to park as close as possible and to carry the reed organ. Making it rolling, although it has wheels, was not possible due to the snow. We tried to lift it, but I'm not strong at all. Almost in despair, I phoned the neighbour crying for help. She sent her husband and son, even though they were just sitting for lunch. God bless them,! Four men managed to take the instrument into the garage, because the steps to the house were completely covered on snow. After carefully drying and cleaning the outer part of the organ, I could briefly check it. The reed organ had survived the adventurous transportation with very minor problems and I could play my favorite choral "Wer nur der lieben Gott läßt walten" full of joy. The day continued with some field work in the area, despite the snow.

The restoration

A couple of weeks after, I had time to check carefully the instrument. I am not able (yet) to perform a real restoration, but I wanted to check all the parts, repairing the wooden pieces that got damaged during the transportation and cleaning the interior of the instrument. Everything went fine. I could find the original label and thank to the young Italian organist I found out that the reed organ was manufactured in the USA in 1912. The instrument is 110 years old!!! It was then imported in Austria and survived two world wars (hopefully, it will not have to experience also a third one...). Unbelievable, despite the adventures, the intonation is still good and all the stops work.

First experiments

Mozart Krapfen for Carnival

After months, the reed organ is still in the garage. It took a while to get rid of the snow from the entrance, then the neighbours got covid, and now my parents are coming. The temperature in the garage (not heated) is similar to that I generally experience in churches, so it shouldn’t damage much the instrument, but staying there too long is not pleasant at all. Anyway, every time I'm home, I offer a kind of concert to the neighbours, playing with the garage door wide open. I've been playing music from Frescobaldi (I know, he composed long before the instrument was even invented) to Franck (more appropriate). Some chorals of Krebs seem written for the instrument. The several stops, the separation between high and low, and the forte with the knee levers allow effects recalling the two manuals of a pipe organ. Of course, I've been playing Bach, too.

The next chapter of the story will be carrying the instrument in the house and starting playing with friends and other instruments. I'll keep the blog updated. Make music, not war!

News! News! News! I stay in Vienna!

Recap of my "career" abroad, for whose of you, who missed the regular updates. In 2010, I left Italy for the first Viennese experience (here it is when I arrived and when I left). In 2013, I moved to Brussels (impressions upon arrival and departure). Finally, the joy to come back to Vienna. And now? The research project that has brought me back and has funded me for the past three years is over, but I understood that I don't want to leave this city.

The dome of the NHM

I didn't have time to think much about "what to do next", because in between I was invited for a job interview (in German) and... I got the position, starting now! A job as scientist and curator at the Natural History Museum of Vienna! There is still  a probation time, but I hope I'll be confirmed. You cannot imagine how excited I am. It is a bit like being in a pastry shop for a greedy kid. Heaven. I'll work in a building that is more than a century old, with a collection that is much older. I believe, I'm the only Italian working in the museum, I don't know if I'm also the first, although there are other "foreigners" among the employees, mostly from Germany. Well, I still come from an ex-colony of the empire... I must admit that the experience in Brussels has contributed to obtain this position.A bit longer than 10 yrs after my PhD, 9 1/2 years after moving abroad, I got a permanent position, which means that I don't have to restart my life somewhere else every 2-3 yrs, unless I want it. This time, I don't need to organize a farewell party and saying goodbye to my friends and former colleagues. I have the opportunity to stay in Vienna, my new home. This doesn't mean that I'll sit tight, not advancing anymore. I have plans, also in academia, on parallel, but with the security of a permanent position. And I'll continue playing music. It is a part of me that here is accepted and even appreciated.

Now, it's time to update the list of the good and bad characteristics of the city. There are still musical trains, perhaps less telephone booths, the selection of cakes is always impressive, and my weekends are very often booked. In the meantime, they learned to fill sandwiches, but not to distribute along an half-full train, church- and TV-taxes are present, perhaps smoking will be forbidden at last, but you can still be killed by a "Dachlawine" and left speechless by dialect terms. The number of mad people seem to have increased in the last years, but those dangerous are limited. The climate is changing, hotter in summer and less snow in winter, but the city administration is taking action to mild the effects on the population. In conclusion, I can definitely live with the few things I don't like in Vienna. Nobody is perfect! (cit.)