Viennese music house opens in east China's Zhejiang
Andreas Riecken, Austrian Ambassador to China (sixth from left), and Xu Honglian, mayor of Haining City (fifth from right), attended the opening ceremony.
Each exhibition space is decorated according to the style of the master at that time.
Haus der Musik, which translates as the House of Music, opened recently in Yanguan, Haining, a county-level city in neighboring Zhejiang Province.
First founded in 2000, Haus der Musik is located in the center of Vienna, the music capital of the world. It is an interactive sound museum that combines classical and modern elements.
This collaboration between Vistas Beyond, Haus der Musik Vienna, and Haus der Musik in Yan Guan is also the group's first project in Asia.
Yanguan, an ancient town in Haining, has long been renowned as an ideal spot for tide-watching throughout centuries.
The newly renovated Yanguan Tides and Music Resort where Haus der Musik is sited, is said to be another version of Wuzhen.
While the core of Wuzhen focuses on literature and theater, Yanguan aims to bring the charms of classical music to this ancient town.
Haus der Musik in Yanguan includes a series of exhibition rooms such as phenomena, physics of sound, instrumentarium, and classical music masters.
Historical materials enable visitors to have a close look at people's lives and their music.
For example, the instrumentarium teaches visitors that sound and music can be produced from numerous, often very different instruments which are divided into four categories: wind instruments, stringed instruments, skin-sounding instruments, and self-sounding instruments.
The highlights of the exhibition are rooms that introduce Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss Jr, Johannes Brahms, and Gustav Mahler, all giants of classical music.
Each exhibition space is decorated according to the style of the master at that time. Varying from a classical piano from Beethoven's time, a carriage from Mozart's time, to a photo of the young Jonathan Strauss and sheets from Beethoven's household book, these historical materials enable the visitors to have a close look at the musicians' lives and music.
"At Haus der Musik, we believe that tradition and innovation go hand in hand," Haus der Musik Vienna Chief Executive Simon K. Posch said at the opening ceremony. "While the echoes of Vienna's musical greats — Mozart, Beethoven, and Strauss — will resonate here, we also bring interactive, cutting-edge technologies that invite every visitor to create, to experiment, and to connect with music in their own way. In this way, we celebrate not just the past but also the infinite possibilities of the future."
If you go:
By train: Take a high-speed train from Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station to Haining West Station, then take a taxi to Yanguan. The entire journey takes about one hour.
