Two Evenings with the Orchestra (Part I)

The Orchestra was the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Thanks to Jenny and the Symphony's educational program, I recently have attended two Tuesday concerts for free. It was not my first time with the Orchestra, but every time it always turned out exciting. What was different of these two Tuesday concerts was that there were quite a proportion of young audience. It was nice too see young faces at a concert hall for serious music.

The first concert I went was an all-German concert featuring Weber, Schumann, and Mendelssohn, conducted by the young German conductor Jens Georg Bachmann. The three pieces were all typical Romanticist music with very beautiful melodies and no restrains on emotions. You can hear an excerpt of Weber's Overturn to Oberon here (by the London Classical Players). It was a very happy and festival opening for an evening of music. The second piece was Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor, which was first performed by his wife, celebrated pianist Clara. We had Andreas Haefliger as our soloist that night. The last piece was Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3, Scottish. The triumphant last theme was ringing in my head for a long time after the concert (so much better than a stupid Taiwanese pop song I picked up earlier that day). Coincidently I heard his Symphony No. 4 on radio that weekend. Both are very beautiful symphonies.

Now let's take a tour in the Symphony Hall (more than 100 years old!). Above the stage, you see this (it says Beethoven):


The balconies:


And sculptures on the walls:


Oh, I was sitting in D1, four rows behind the stage. I can see this: Scores for second violins on row 5.




Concertmaster (leader of first violins) Malcolm Lowe practicing before concert:


Even the piano movers wear suits:


Pianist Andreas Haefliger: