Through Salzburg looking for smiles and tears

A few years ago, the beautiful city of Salzburg experienced an unusual controversy. Should it or shouldn't it name a street after Maria Augusta Kutschera, the "Rebellious Sound of Music" who, by marrying Captain Georg von Trapp and helping him raise their seven children with a lot of music, would inspire The Sound of Music ?

The story of this singing family, first adapted for the stage with magnificent songs by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein, and then for the cinema in 1964 with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer in the lead roles ( The Sound of Music is the original title), has brought a flood of tourists to the Austrian town.

But when the City Council debated the issue of the street, uneducational aspects came to light. In her own autobiographical texts, Maria had recounted that she had no hesitation in resorting to spanking to discipline some of the children from the Baron's first marriage, and the three she had with him.

She told one of the girls, Eleonore, that she had a "face like a horse," which apparently undermined her self-esteem for years, although she later "appreciated" the strict upbringing. After seeing the report that exposed Frau Maria's attitudes, the councilor who proposed the recognition reversed the initiative, since in Austria "any use of violence as an educational method is prohibited."

⁄ The tour that visits some of the film's locations is a bit disappointing

And yet, Mozart's birthplace continues to pay homage to the Trapps. Every day, packed buses depart from Miranbell Square, offering several "Sound of Music" tours. A recent family trip allowed me to experience something I coveted from my childhood experience of the film and my faithful attendance at performances of the work in London, New York, and Sant Cugat (Jaime Azpilicueta's 2012 version).

The tour lasts four hours. The first stop is some distance from Leopoldskron Palace, which lent its gardens and steps to the lake to the Trapp House. We glimpse them across the lake.

There's another stop in the Hellbrunn Palace gardens, where a somewhat faded replica of the pavilion where the eldest daughter and the young Nazi postman, and later Maria and the captain, melodically profess their affection for each other, is on display. The small replica is closed (a woman once fainted inside, shattering the glass) and houses football promotional panels.

To reach these destinations, we follow tree-lined paths like the ones the children ride their bikes on in the film. We quickly pass Nonnberg Abbey, the convent in the film. Then, a long drive (which, however, offers glimpses of the beautiful Alpine landscapes) to Monsee Cathedral, where the wedding was filmed, the only interior we access.

The recordings projected on the bus are of poor quality, and we missed performances with actors, or at least virtual reality. The guide, a friendly elderly gentleman in traditional costume, doesn't exactly inspire enthusiasm. And we don't even get close to the scene of the film's exciting final recital before the getaway.

Although fans of The Sound of Music are devoted and grateful, the experience (60 euros) is somewhat disappointing.

Anecdotes remain. Director Robert Wise began his location shooting in Salzburg in 1963; he brought a crew of 250 people and went disturbingly overbudget. The real Maria von Trapp, now a widow, visited the set and became good friends with Plummer. The actor didn't fake his severity: he didn't like children at all.

While filming the canoe scene, Julia Andrews fell off the wrong side and couldn't catch little Kym Karath, who couldn't swim and got quite a scare.

The plot of The Sound of Music condenses into a few months in 1938 a story that spanned ten years, from the wedding (the Von Trapps were married in 1928) to the flight from Austria. Fiction, as is often the case, embellished reality. It is the sweet Julie Andrews, rather than the stern real Maria, who rightfully belongs on that Salzburg street. And it's up to the city council to improve the tours it sponsors.