Experience-Based Travel Writing Piece: Classical Music Close-Up Walking around the city, it’s evident that music is a big part of the city’s cultural life - you can hear music students practicing for their final exams walking through Old Town, see posters advertising concerts at small clubs and giant stadiums, and there’s at least 13 music festivals listed for this summer alone. Of course, Prague comes to this with a long history of music - Antonín Dvořák is probably the most well known classical composer from the Czech Republic, and underground jazz and bluegrass radio continued throughout the Soviet occupation. The Air BnB Experience “Classical Music Close-Up” was a chance to experience a small taste of this musical heritage. We met at the steps of the Rudolfinum, home to the Czech Philharmonic. Our tour guide lead us through the employee entrance, up many flights of stairs, and finally, onto the roof of the building. We learned about the statues of the famous Czech musicians lining the roof. In addition, we were able to try some of the honey from the beehives on the roof! The bees were especially interesting - the interior and exterior of the building are decorated with bees, apparently as a clever marketing scheme by the banking company who financed the building (whose logo, of course, was the bee). In the past few years, however, bee keeping has become fashionable in town, leading the Philharmonic to ut some beehives on the roof. It was an interesting mix into old and new marketing and fashion in the city. Finally, we went back downstairs to hear a performance from the Czech Baroque Ensemble, comprised of members from the Czech Philharmonic. They played a wide range of baroque music. They clearly enjoyed the music and had been playing together for a long time, and the oboe player, in particular, was fantastic. I also found it interesting that the price of the tickets was quite reasonable - much more accessible than classical music performances in the United States. This experience was a wonderful taste of music in Prague, and I’m already looking forward to my next experience - checking out the Jazz Fest next week!
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