So, my succinct thoughts on the symphony. I'll go piece by piece.
The Wagner was a great way to start the performance. Boisterous and energetic, I really liked it.
The selections from Carmen were awesome, and really continued my enjoyment of the show.
The Sarasate, as I'm sure most of you know featured a solo violinist. A quite young (23, the program said), and pretty attractive if I do say so, woman played it and she was amazing. But, the piece didn't grab me. I've never been a huge solo kind of person, and the song seemed to drag a bit. Still, I enjoyed it, and watching her talent was a great pleasure. She deservedly got a standing ovation.
The Berlioz was very good. I enjoyed it.
Debussy's Claire de Lune was really the surprise highlight of the show. t was just so beautiful. I always enjoyed this song, but never really had any love of it. I do now. Certain parts gave me goosebumps, especially the build-up at 1:52 (in this video). Up until this point, it had been a good, enjoyable show. This song changed that to an amazing show.
The Dukas was a lot of fun to listen to, as almost everyone knows it. It's such a wonderful song with such an amazingly apt name. A great way to rap up the first half of the show before intermission.
To kick off the second half were two pieces by Mozart. I know I speak blasphemy, but I can't get into Mozart, and the performance didn't convert me. It wasn't bad, but it just seemed so boring. Mozart always just seems so safe. I enjoy his operas more than his concertos.
As for the Strauss, I've never liked the Blue Danube. I don't know why, I just don't. It's boring and way too repetitive, and it seemed to drag. At this point I was getting bored.
Thankfully, Elgar's Nimrod brought it back. I found this piece to be just beautiful, just like Claire de Lune was, but this just didn't give me goosebumps like Lune did.
And, the finale was the finale to Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, which was just AMAZING. Definitely the best song, though I'm definitely biased towards it. It was just so powerful, so grand. I mean, how could one not love the gong? Where Lune gave me goosebumps, this gave me chills. I'd love to see the whole piece performed.
So, there're my thoughts on the songs. Overal it was an awesome experience. But, like Mozart in general, it was too safe for my tastes in classical. I like more of the modern stuff, music that is a bit more out there. Hopefully there'll be some of that next season, because I'm definitely going back. The sound was just amazing. It almost didn't sound real, if that makes sense. That so much sound can come from unamplified music is just amazing to someone who has, up until now, seen almost nothing but amplified concerts, including many an earl-bleeding heavy metal shows.
A couple questions, though. The conductor talked to the crowd every few songs (with a microphone) about what they were playing, giving brief explanations and backgrounds of each piece. Is this normal, or usual? It was a "Classical's Greatest Hits" show, so I think it was geared more towards very casual listeners or people new to classical (like myself), so maybe it was just for that show. In any case, I liked that he did it.
My other question is, is it against decorum to move at all during a performance? Both my dad and me were pretty much bobbing our heads (or sort of swaying them during slower sections) the whole time. It's just how we are--we can't help but move when listening to music. Every time I looked around, people were like statues, which, to me, is weirder than not moving.
