Mozart makes for a happy, if exhausting, day in Salzburg

A gaggle of Chinese tourists sings Do-Re-Me while bouncing up and down stairs in the Mirabell Gardens.  Meanwhile, an open-topped double decker bus with that iconic, meadow-skipping graphic of Julie Andrews splashed across its side drives by, a crowd of Americans bellowing How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? from its top deck.  At dinner that night, fellow tourists from at least four countries will regard you with suspicion:  What do you mean, you're not doing The Sound of Music tour?

It's at that point you may start to wonder if Salzburg is no more than a giant, film-set based
amusement park, secretly managed by 20th Century Fox to milk revenues out of a 50-year-old movie.  Don't get me wrong:  I love the uplifting musical about the triumph of love, honour and family ties in the face of rising Nazism. But there is more to Salzburg than an American musical's interpretation of the city ... even if it seems that, these days, that's the reason most people come here.

Had the film never existed, you'd still want to spend some time in this tiny city: 145,000 residents in 25 square miles, which includes gently agrarian suburbs.  Here are the main reasons.

Setting. Salzburg occupies an achingly beautiful spot in a green river valley against the shoulder of the Alps.  Snow-capped peaks fill the horizon, a couple of smaller mountains rise out of the plain within the city's suburbs, and two craggy hills enliven the city centre.  The medieval fortress atop one forms a picturesque backdrop for numerous views, and a blockbuster sightseeing point from which to take everything in.

Architecture. Religion and the salt trade combined to make Salzburg a very wealthy place for most of its existence. As an archbishopric, rather than a secular state, it was ruled by a succession of prince-bishops. In theory, that means centuries of men without heirs; freed from the pressures of family inheritance, they could leave all their efforts and profits to the glory of the city.  While there was plenty of abuse down the centuries, it does mean that this place ... like Vatican City ... accumulated more than its fair share of glory.  The churches and palaces are magnificent, but just as good are the streets of shops and houses built for the prosperous middle classes all that money and power supported.  The entire old town is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Location. The city sits of the very edge of Austria. It's just five miles to the German border from the town centre; 89 gets you to Munich.  It means it's an easy day trip from the Bavarian capital. But it's also a good base for exploring a fascinating region.  You can be in the centre of Berchestgaden National Park, a wonder of Alpine beauty, in 20 minutes.  The gorgeous lake Chiemsee with its Versailles-like palace on one of its islands is under an hour.  You'll have a more relaxed visit to both of these popular sites, which I'll cover in later blogs, if you start from Salzburg. Thus it's logical to make it a hub for a a few days.

For us, however, one name reigned supreme.  Mozart.  This is his city.  He was born here in 1756 and lived here, on and off, for his first 25 years.  And while he sometimes seems overshadowed by Rogers and Hammerstein, his home city ... which he never actually liked very much ... markets him relentlessly.  Life-sized cardboard cutouts beckon you into shops.  Mozart chocolates flood countless shop windows. His work headlines all of the numerous classical concerts that take place here daily. (Though, look carefully. Many of the concerts don't actually feature that much Mozart.)

We spent a day in his footsteps, devoting most of our time to his two homes that now operate as museums, then ending the day at an opera with a twist.  But, as mentioned, Salzburg is tiny.  So we decided to take in as much as we could, aided by a one-day Salzburg card that got us into everything for a single 27 euro fee per person.

We started at Mozart's Birthplace. Most guidebooks will tell you that, if you only have time to visit one of the homes, go for this one.  I disagree, for reasons I'll explain later.  But any Mozart lover should try to do both.  Here, you'll be surprised by the humble, rather cramped surroundings of a family that was already quite successful.  (Mozart's father was an accomplished musician and teacher with a popular book on musical theory delivering revenues.) Early rooms, devoid of most furniture, use portraits and documents to introduce you to the man and his era.  Later on, there's memorabilia: locks of his hair, items he owned, one of his pianos, etc.  The more interesting stuff is actually downstairs, where the museum has expanded beyond the Mozart-affiliated rooms. There's much more on the cultural and economic background of the world that created the genius.  There's a room furnished to show what the family's rooms might have actually looked like; much more evocative than the plain, bare rooms above.  My favourite section was on opera, where two rooms displayed models of stage sets, from the originals up through modern interpretations.  Here, three stations allowed you to duck into sound booths to watch and listen to performances.  Besides that, the museum was curiously low on sound.  It's my biggest complaint: listening to the actual music should be at the heart of any Mozartian pilgrimage.  Here, it certainly is not.

From there we wandered to the archbishop's Residenz, where we were irritated to discover we couldn't just pop in to the state rooms.  It's a one-way, 1.5 kilometre trek through a substantial museum before you get to the palace. Since it was included in our pass, we grabbed the audio guide and took a stroll. Turns out the organisers know what they're doing: the state rooms aren't terribly impressive (as palaces in this region go), but there's some beautiful stuff in the treasury.  A 17th century prince-bishop's kunstkammer (cabinet of wonders) is a particularly delightful example of this early trend in natural history museums.  The best reason for admission, however, is actually access to a rooftop terrace that looks over the Residenzplatz and the Mozartplatz, then leads to the choir loft in the cathedral.

At this point we needed a restful lunch, and there's no better place to get that on a sunny day than the beer garden tucked into the ramparts of the Hohensalzburg Castle ... a short walk and quick funicular ride up from the cathedral. I'm sure we paid more than options down below, but the beer was good and the view exquisite.  Restored, we clambered up and down another six to ten stories worth of stairs to take in the highlights of the castle.  These are generally acknowledged to be the renaissance rooms up top, dark wood paneling and ceilings highlighted with gold gilt and festive paint.  Equally impressive, however, is the marionette museum on the way up, which gives you the history of the long tradition of puppetry in this area and shows off scores of beautiful puppets.  You can also buy tickets here for productions in their dedicated theatre.  (For more on that, keep reading.)

Descending from the heights, we started heading to the other side of town, but were distracted by a quick stop into the Franciscan church. This study in contrasts makes for one of the most beautiful religious spaces we saw on the whole trip.  The main church is all austere gothic elegance, white walls stretching up to lofty gothic arches outlined by green/grey stone.  A long, narrow nave expands into a round space for altar and side chapels, where floods of light from windows above illuminate a crazy quilt of baroque decoration.  The gold gilt, curvaceous iron work, frolicking putti and angst-ridden saints are all the more effective for their austere setting.

Over the Salzach river, most people go to the Mirabell Palace for the gardens. Even if you're not into re-creating The Sound of Music, you'll appreciate the bright floral parterres swirling across the emerald lawns, picturesque rooflines and Salzburg castle forming a backdrop beyond.  These days the palace is more government office than tourist site, and there's little signage to indicate anything is inside.  But if you try for unlocked doors and poke your nose through, you can find the monumental baroque staircase that leads up to the ornate rooms where they hold concerts here nightly.  (If we'd had another night free, we would have booked one.)  It's definitely worth a peek.

The main attraction for us on this side of the river, however, was Mozart's Residenz, the much larger rooms the family occupied when he was a young man.  I found this a more satisfying museum on almost every front.  Presumably, because the tour books put this one in second place, it's without the bus tours that made it hard to move inside the birthplace.  The rooms are far larger, and there are plenty of places to sit and listen to a very informative audio tour. Which, sensibly, is flooded with music. Like the birthplace, you'll find portraits, artefacts and musical instruments.  But there's also more video, and deeper investigation into topics like other members of the family, Mozart's travels and how the Mozart mystique has carried through the ages.  I only have two regrets about this fascinating museum: the audio-visual room with the computers that dug into musical scores was closed, and by this point I was probably too tired to take everything in.

We limped through more picturesque streets to a cafe beside the river, where we drank white wine and watched the sun glimmer off water and rooftops as evening fell.  Then it was time for the opera.

Not just any opera. A puppet opera.  Founded in 1913, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre is one of the
oldest continuously operating companies for this art form.  Marionette theatre reached the zenith of its popularity in the post-war years; the Salzburg company was famous, toured the world and inspired spin-offs.  My own first opera, so I am told, was a marionette version at the Kungsholme in Chicago ... a long-closed version of what's still going in Salzburg.

We were there for The Magic Flute, and magic is a fine word to describe the whole evening.  Wisely, they start the performance showing the puppeteers getting in place and arranging the set, before the screens tighten in on the stage and the perfect illusion begins. If you hadn't seen them at the beginning, and if light didn't reveal the tell-tale glint of strings, there are moments when it's hard to believe these are two-foot high dolls being manipulated by others while a recorded version of the opera plays.

In many ways, this is actually a better way to present the more fantastical operas than live action.  At least in these days, when everyone is going for modern interpretations.  Puppets can fly, be dragons or other fantasy creatures. Sets can be lavish. The illusion can be more complete. I found myself longing for a Marionette Theatre ring cycle.

But I fear it is not to be. There was an element of sadness to this performance.  With its beautiful, purpose-built theatre less than a quarter full (there were perhaps 50 people in the audience), I feared we were looking at a dying art form.  I suspect they don't have much money to invest, which accounts for a sound system that could have been much better.

The company recently introduced a marionette version of The Sound of Music that plays regularly as a counterpoint to the serious opera. I hope that brings the crowds in, and keeps the tradition going.  Whether you go the Mozart or Rogers and Hammerstein route in Salzburg, it's the Marionette Theatre I'd put forward as the one thing you shouldn't miss.  Now, sadly, almost unique, it's a slice of the past that we shouldn't let go, and it will send you out into the Austrian night uplifted, content and humming a tune or two.