Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum European Piano Party 2018 in Germany - 8 September!!

Vienna is amazing! Go to a concert at the Musikverein if you can. There's Mozart's house and Beethoven's Museum. There is also a Music Museum (Haus der Musik) but it's mainly an interactive exhibition targeted at kids. And of course there's a ton of other things to see that are not related to music, like the Spanish Riding School, Hofburg, Schönbrunn Palace, etc. I spent 4 days in the city and visited almost everything with a Vienna Pass.

Hi Sinophilia, I am having a great time setting up trips already. Mozart's Requiem in Karlskirche for one, Musikverein for sure, Kursalon and Schonbrunn, then something at St Anne's. Daytime to visit the other things - museums and markets! I want to take in the walking tours I've come across ' In the Footsteps of - Mozart, Beethoven, and others if I can find them. And a trip out to some vineyards - Grinsing? Don't know how I'll get there from St Goar yet, or where I'll stay - Hotel Beethoven sounds like great place for an devotee! Planning is half the fun!

4 months until the event!
No updates to report; this post is just a reminder.

Our (potential) participants are:

Confirmed:
BritishJim + 1
casinitaly + 1
Palmpirate
patH + 3
SwissMS + 1
TheodorN
WiseBuff + 1

Possible:
Adelheid
michaelvi + 1
Pianist685
Piano World + 1
UKIkarus

I am assuming from the previous posts that all on the "confirmed" list also want to participate on the boat event. If anything has come up, please PM me.
I have also sent PMs to those on the "possible" list. In June the reservations for the boat trip will be final; so I will need the number of participants until the end of May.

Looking forward to seeing you in September!

Hi Path!

We're definitely on the boat event - and we're really looking forard to seeing you and the others !

If anyone is taking the train to Sankt Goar - from anywhere in Europe - this is a fabulous website for booking your tickets.


https://www.trainline.eu/?_ga=2.77091285.1935027818.1530784798-2002454688.1530784798

Thank you casinItaly, very helpful. I'm working out the whole trip, and will most likely take a flight to Frankfurt, so possibly I can arrange the train trip when I get there. If I decide to book beforehand , it's good to have this link.

Now if anyone has some input as to what is the best way to find accommodation in Frankfurt or somewhere on the way to St. Goar, that would also be appreciated. I'm talking about the night before our program starts.

The brute force method tells me hotels[dot]com or booking[dot]com, but if there are other ways, it would be nice to know. I'm assuming booking should rather be done sooner than later. Rhein in Flammen will probably attract a lot of tourists.

We booked at the schloss ( I don’t remember the exact name, it should be in this thread near the beginning).
We used booking.com.

You are right, you should try to book as soon as possible- the festival definitely draws a crowd, from what Patrick had told us.

Looking forward to meeting you !

Yeah, Schloss Rheinfels, looking at it right now. Just reviewed earlier posts and saw it mentioned, very beautiful indeed.

Edit Nicht verfügbar, think it means no availability. I'll look elsewhere...

There was also the option to stay at the place where we’re actually holding the party.
The accommodations were a bit on the basic side but they looked perfectly acceptable.
......( I just couldn’t resist the idea of staying in a castle!)

I will stay at the Music Festival Academy on Friday and Saturday night. I assumed the school wasn't available except those two nights. If I was wrong it doesn't matter, I got a room at the Schloss Rheinfels on Thursday night, on Booking.

I'm also looking forward to staying in a castle. Just booked the flight with Lufthansa and SAS. I'll be in Frankfurt early in the afternoon, and spend a few hours in the city. See you at the Schloss Rheinfels, can hardly wait for this trip.

Unfortunately I can't participate this year. I am taking vacation from July 15th and cannot move it to September.
But I hope that wasn't my last chance

At the Mozart Haus the lower level was an old wine cellar Bösendorfer has turned into an amazing recital hall. We have had recitals there as part of master classes. There are regularly scheduled music programs held there as well that may be interesting for you. At Bösendorfer's Stadt Salon adjacent to the Musikverein you can play their Imperial grand in a private room (97 keys) for 20 Euro per hour. Lastly, there are extremely interesting tours of the Musikverein during the day given in various languages. The Musikverein, Royal Albert Hall, and Carnagie Hall are the three best venues in the world I believe. Just one or two blocks away there is a great restaurant in the Ritz Carlton.

Have a great trip to my favorite city on earth!! Steve

Lakeviewsteve Thanks for that advice. I’ll certainly hope to part with 20 Eu to play that piano! Got a feeling Vienna is going to top my list of favorite places too.

Sorry to hear you won't be attending. But hopefully this won't be the last European Piano Party. Enjoy your vacation!

This makes an updated list of participants.

Confirmed:
BritishJim + 1
casinitaly + 1
Palmpirate
patH + 3
SwissMS + 1
TheodorN
WiseBuff + 1

Possible:
Adelheid
Pianist685
Piano World + 1
UKIkarus

As for me, I'll arrive in St.Goar on Friday 7th, and me and my relatives will stay at the Hotel Rheinfels until Sunday.
Details about the arrival time are to be determined. But we have two months to go.

I may have more important matters at hand... practising piano pieces so that they can be presented to an audience. Only two months to go? Gasp...

Dear Patrick and all,

now I have received a mandate for an inhouse seminar on Saturday, September 8th, which means that I will unfortunately not be on board. Nevertheless, thanks so much for organising this event in such a perfect manner and at such a lovely location. I wish all of you a pleasant, interesting and inspiring piano party.

Constantin

patH, is there any guidance you have for playing? How much time do we have between us? I need to decide what to focus on for The next week or so......

There is no official guidance for how long to play.

In the past parties, usually there was a first round where every pianist played a piece. The length of the pieces is on average comparable to the length of the pieces in online recitals. Can be everything from 1 minute to 15 minutes.
After then, all those who want to play more pieces do so, and take turns, usually one piece at the time.

I am currently preparing three pieces for the party; they are about 20 minutes long, put together. I am not yet 100% sure if they will be presentable for the party.

A question to the other party pianists: Does it make sense to post here what pieces we are planning to play?
Or should we keep it under wraps, in case we don't have the pieces ready for September?

Everyone plays what they’re comfortable with.
None of us minds listening to those who are able to play longer pieces.
Play your favourites.
It’s all very relaxed.

To address Patrick’s question, I don’t think it’s necessary to say what we’re playing, but if anyone wants to, why not?
I will be playing my last three ABF recital pieces and perhaps I will try Traumerei again, but I don’t want to put pressure on myself for that one!

I'd like to play something, but I don't want to put too much pressure on myself, because if I do, I won't enjoy the party. It will become a stress factor. Have had some back pains recently, so sitting at the piano hasn't been an option. Maybe I can play something simple, and if I won't, I'll sure enjoy all the performances of you, good people and friends.

One month to go!

Here's the current list of participants.

Confirmed:
BritishJim + 1
casinitaly + 1
Palmpirate
patH + 3
SwissMS + 1
TheodorN
WiseBuff + 1

Possible:
Adelheid
Piano World + 1
UKIkarus

I have additional information for those who are staying at the Schloss Rheinfels Hotel (this includes me): They have a room with a piano; but on Friday September 7th there's a wedding scheduled there.
So I don't know if it will be accessible; but they told me that in general, guests are welcome to play there. I am writing this in case some of us want to practise before the party.
So maybe it is possible to practise on late Friday or early Saturday. I guess it's best to ask the reception.

Looking forward to September!