A Night at the Symphony
Friday night, Chris and I were lucky enough to go to the St Louis Symphony Orchestra as guests for their third Bloggers Night. This was my first time attending the symphony in St Louis, but not attending a symphony. I’d seen several during my time playing violin. However, I’ve been disengaged from any type of musical performance outside of karaoke at Double D’s since I graduated high school. I’m pretty sure if I picked up a violin right now, I’d sound no better than the Duggar orchestra, sawing out their rendition of “Amazing Grace”.
When the entertainment district on Grand is all lit up at night, it has an energy that makes St Louis feel like a big city. Going to the Fox is always a treat; my first visit to Powell Symphony Hall was no different. The hall is so beautiful, I just might go take a tour. We sat with Amy from A Chase After Wind and her friend and behind Julie from Gateway Groupies. The program was a preview for the symphony’s upcoming performance at Carnegie Hall and featured guest percussionist Colin Currie. The program included
- Stravinsky’s Song of the Nightingale
- Tan Dun’s Water Concerto
- Bright Sheng’s Colors of Crimson
- Bartok’s The Miraculous Mandarin Suite
I’m just going to keep it real and let you know the star of the night, for me, was Water Concerto. Currie and two house percussionists played water. No, seriously, large bowls of water that the musicians used in conjunction with various instruments. There were clear panels placed around all three percussionists using water so the other musicians and the audience didn’t get wet–although the people in the audience sitting closest to the water bowls were all wearing rain ponchos. The piece was composed by the same guy who did the soundtrack to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and, like most of the music from the night, an homage to China. Tan Dun’s piece challenges the listeners’ notion of the line between sound and music–how often do you consider draining your pasta music? But in Currie’s capable hands, water was just another tool to illuminate Tan Dun’s vision. This was perfect Halloween music, and in addition to auditory stimulation, this piece was a blast to watch. Chris and I kept looking at each other with dropped jaws each time Currie used water in a different way.
During the intermission, we had a cocktail with the other bloggers in attendance and our two hosts, Eddie Silva and Dale Fisher from SLSO. We enjoyed ourselves immensely, and we will be back to the symphony, possibly as early as this week, when the symphony performs the music of John Williams (i.e., the scores from movies like Harry Potter and Star Wars). It was very cathartic for me to be around classical music again. However, looking around the audience between pieces, I was disappointed to note how…old the crowd was. To me, this is something that can and should be appealing to almost any type of crowd. Tickets are affordable–really affordable with a student ID–and the atmosphere is not stuffy (despite the opera glasses and furs–Sidenote: people still wear furs? Really? You totally gross me out, lady in 6″ heels with a 6′ long fur stole). Also, THEY HAVE A BAR.
Ahem, I repeat: THERE IS A BAR AT THE SYMPHONY.
I do no think you need another reason to go: good tunes, booze, and a good time. Quit yer bitchin’ about how there’s nothing new to do in this town. Get thee to the symphony, pronto. Thanks, Eddie and Dale, for the good time on Friday night. You now have two new, enthusiastic, vocal (albeit, broke) patrons.
(On November 2nd, 2009 at 4:40 pm)
We get out to the symphony a couple of times a year and we just love it. I have to promise to not wear my Slayer or Iron Maiden shirts…and put on a tie…
Of course there’s a bar. We have a bar in everything in St. Louis. That’s like our deal.