Oh I'd been to many concerts before, hundreds, maybe thousands if you
count organ concerts at church. But I never had the almost out of
body experience as I did recently at the Concert Hall of the Kennedy
Center in Washington DC. I was literally "blown away" in a number of
ways.
Most
of my concert going has been in the nosebleed section where the
sounds are blended and somewhat muted. From there,looking over a sea of
patrons, we viewed the cooperative effort of anonymous and almost
faceless performers. This time, however, Linda managed to get
tickets that were not only in the Center Section, but were in the
Second Row!
From the beginning of Bach;s Fugue
for Strings I knew I was in a different world. As the violins
began over here, there were violas over there and then they were
joined by the cellos in the back. I could see the intensity of
individual players and the effort exerted to fly their fingers over
the strings and fling their bows in unison at their instruments. It was Stereo on Steroids live and in person!
But it only got better! As Leila
Josefowicz played Stravinsky's Violin Concerto in F Minor just 15
feet from me, I saw unmitigated genius and dexterity at work. Such concentration and intensity in blending mind, body and spirit! She appeared to be dancing with her violin as her partner.
After the intermission we had
the opportunity to concentrate on conductor Gianandres Noseda's and his magic fingers. Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments was apparently
performed by flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets,
trombones, and a tuba. We couldn't tell because they were all hidden from us by the vacated chairs and music stands of the string section. Truthfully to me, the music seemed to emanate from the fingers of the Conductor as he waved in various directions. As he turned to the
audience to bow we could see the perspiration streaming from his face, and
I was particularly warmed as, in response to my loud, "Bravado", he looked directly in my eyes in apparent appreciation.
But the climactic "climax"
came with Mozart's Symphony Number 39 in E Flat Major. It was a
chance for me to close my eyes and revel in beauty and contemplation.
I thought of the effort and diligence of the performers and of the enjoyment I shared with so many others.
But there was one added thing
that drew my attention as I left my prized second row seat. I felt
the need to greet more warmly a person in the first row. She was remaining
until someone could escort her out. She was blind! How striking to learn from our conversation that she had enjoyed the concert as
much as I.
Yet
another new/old experience
How thrilling on Easter Sunday to see once again
Jesus Christ, Superstar; But in a totally different format and style on
television. And for the first time three generations viewing it. The
original performance heard by my young family so many years ago was
so very meaningful to us. It was their Hamilton! They memorized
every word. And here it was again bringing tears to us in a new
exciting format.
I'm not sure though that I could tolerate anyone messing with
Menotti's
Amahl and the Night Visitors
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