Welcome back.

In April, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra spent two weeks touring Europe from Spain to Austria, the Netherlands and England.

Mariss Jansons and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra played to enthusiastic audiences.

OnQ contributor and station manager of WQED FM 89.3, Jim Cunningham, took a video camera to Europe and covered the tour for OnQ.

His reports are the only ones you will see on local television.

Tonight, in part two of our European Tour series, Jim brings you the sights of Vienna and the sounds of the PSO.

I'm Jim Cunningham for OnQ with the Pittsburgh Symphony in Vienna, Austria.

Pittsburgh Symphony left sunny Spain for Vienna, Austria, arriving in a cold April snowfall in the City of music where Beethoven lived and worked.

Violinist Chris Wu was last in line for the Vienna flight.

Now we have to take a look around, Jim, because we got to see how this whole airport thing works.

You saw the bar, which everyone was at just ten minutes ago, and then they called for boarding.

And like a herd of cattle, everyone went racing.

And now the line is probably about 125 people, which basically means we're not going to be getting on this flight.

Jim.

No, we will be probably at the end of the line fighting for overhead space and hoping that we that our bodies will fit on the plane.

But it really is fun.

The Pittsburgh Symphony gave three concerts in the Golden Hall the Musikverein Wien home to the Vienna Philharmonic.

Seen around the world on New Year's Day, and one of the most famous concert halls in the world for its warm, clear sound.

Do you have a message for your fans back in the Pittsburgh?

Yes, I have a message.

I would like that they would visit one day Vienna.

And so this beautiful city and the people who like music and would come perhaps here and see how Pittsburgh Symphony wonderfully plays here and how the public enjoys and like this orchestra, you know, somebody who can say that I'm crazy, you know, to start the, the, the first concert with Schubert Symphony, which, you know, is the music for Vienna is is very crazy thing.

But we did it very well.

So I'm really happy.

Okay.

Now we should eat because it will become very cold.

The Pittsburgh Symphony has made three previous visits to Vienna.

The general Secretary of the Musikverein Wien Doctor Thomas Angyan was delighted to bring the Pittsburgh back with Mariss Jansons.

And we have Brahms on the script, but we have also the famous Eroica, which is played these days with Pittsburgh Symphony, the manuscript of the Erotica, where Beethoven, the dedication to Napoleon lies here in the third floor, including the other manuscripts by Schubert, by Mahler, by Webern, by the major artists and composers of the world up to today's composers.

All three Pittsburgh concerts were totally sold out, with over 200 standings at the very back of the hall.

Many music lovers brought their scores and followed along with great concentration.

Violist Paul Silver and double bassist Don Evans toured the grandiose Chevron Palace, summer residence of the Empress Maria Theresia and Kaiser Franciosa with its 1400 rooms, including the Great Gallery, with Gilliam's ceiling frescoes.

Mozart played for the Empress here at age six.

Don and Paul enjoyed the pastry at the Café Glorietta at the colonnade.

After a long hike up the hill from the palace.

The Hapsberg Emperors wanted to look out over their city from the cafe.

This is the second trip up the hill for Don Evans.

It knocked me out with climbing up this hill.

I was here in 1977 with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, and it seemed a lot easier to get up here then.

That nights concert brought two encores, including native son Johann Strauss and his Long Live Hungary polka.

After the encores, Owen Cantor and his daughter Lauren were among the fans.

I thought the concert was fabulous.

This is a great city and a great hall, and everything is great here except that people smoke a lot.

Other than that, I think it's okay.

I thought it was very enjoyable and intense, and it was a great experience to be in Europe and hear them play.

Vienna is a city for walking, with pedestrian friendly boulevards hosting musicians.

Cellist David Primo took a stroll through the Stadtpark with its gold statue of Johann Strauss, inspiring some air violin.

David and Paul toured the city with stops at the Jesuit church and the Figaro House, where Mozart lived, and wrote his Marriage of Figaro.

The old floorboards squeaked just as they did in Mozart's day.

I asked David Primo if the orchestra was comfortable in the music Musikverein Wiens tiny stage.

The lighting is concerning, yeah The lighting is a little diffuse, difficult to see the notes, but of course I have it all memorized.

What did you think of the Jesuit church we just saw?

That was just spectacular.

I've got a postcard of the pews that had inlay in in them, and the marble columns were not just straight, they were curved all the way up.

It's really spectacular in every part of it.

Members of the Pittsburgh Symphony spent their evening off playing a concert at Bösendorfer Hall, as part of the Viennese piano maker's 175th anniversary.

Christian Hoeferl is the director of sales and marketing for Bösendorfer.

Who were the great artists that play at the Bösendorfer?

We're very proud to have people like Andras Schiff or André Previn.

We actually just sold a piano to Billy Joel.

Have you had a chance to hear the Pittsburgh Symphony?

Have youve been to the Musikverein Wien?

I've been at the Musikverein Wie but I've heard them before as well.

It's one of the famous orchestras, and Vienna is smart enough to invite them over again.

Bass clarinet, Richard Page, is the founder of the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Project.

We're really fortunate that we have so many supportive colleagues and so many supportive symphony patrons who help us do these things.

We to say that we had a great time here is an understatement.

The Bösendorfer people have been so gracious and kind to us.

To participate in their 175th birthday is a great honor for us.

We feel really very fortunate to have been able to do this.

I really enjoy the performance tonight, and playing with all these great colleagues was just a great experience, and I think the concert was very well received and everything was just wonderful.

Wunderbar.

The Pittsburgh was back at the Musikverein Wien for the third and final concert.

It was a family affair for bassoonist Philip Pandolfi, joined on this tour by Father Roland Pandolfi.

Roland has just retired as principal horn in Saint Louis.

He will talk about the sound of his home being the best of any in the world.

What's so great about the sound here?

I always thought that if you couldn't make a good sound in this hall, you probably probably should sell your instrument.

I mean, the hall really does help.

Anton Bruckners Seventh Symphony brought the Pittsburgh Symphonys three concerts in Vienna to a close.

Bruckner once sat in this hall to hear his music.

The grandson of composer Richard Strauss was in the audience for the Bruckner.

It was a wonderful concert and I know that Mariss since he is, and he played a lot of the works of my my grandfather, Richard Strauss, and we are really friends and I am always happy to hear him because he is, in my opinion, one of the best conductors of our time.

And I'm always very glad to see him and to hear him.

This evening was extraordinary.

Sweet success in Vienna called for one more Apfel strudel with whipped cream.

Let me try it and well see.

Making good sounds.

This sounds good.

Sounds promising.

Sounds like he's enjoying it.

Dats good.

The next morning, early, it was on to Amsterdam, and London for the last two concerts of the tour.

And tomorrow night, Jim wraps up his European Tour series with reports on the symphony's visits to Amsterdam and to London.