Miles's blog

I spent a very pleasant morning today listening to the New York Philharmonic.  That is right, this morning.  The orchestra has open rehearsals at 9:45 a.m.  They are not free.   But the $18 cost is far less than the performance itself.  

I expected I would be joined by maybe a few hundred others, but the hall was basically full.  The place seats 2700, I would guess there were about 2000 in attendance.  So even with

general admission, I was still stuck in the nosebleed seats.  But I could hear great.  

And the orchestra sounded great.  I am no aficionado of symphonic music, but I assume the New York Philharmonic comprises nothing but great musicians.  I was struck by the size of the symphony.  There were about 100 instruments, including at least 25 violins and violas.  (I  don’t know the difference, but I assume all those stringed things held under people’s chins and bowed were violins and violas.)  They had five percussionists (is that the right term?).  When I used to watch the Colorado Symphony they had maybe two.  The stage was full.  All those instruments really filled the hall.

Those of you who know something about music are probably wondering what music I heard.  I will give you the list but it means nothing to me.  The first piece was a new composition by a Finnish composer named Magnus Lindberg.  I liked it.  It was dramatic.  I had feared modern symphonic music would be weird or atonal, but this was good.  The second piece was Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5.  Although he is the most famous composer of the three, The piece utilized a lot of horns, and built to a loud and exciting conclusion.  Finally, they rehearsed Bartok’s Piano Concerto no. 2.  I was not as fond of this piece as the others, but it was great to watch the guest pianist. 

This was a working rehearsal, which made the experience quite a bit different than a performance.  While the first two pieces were played all the way through initially, the symphony was only played in segments.  I have no idea if they played all the segments, but I believe so.  The conductor worked with the orchestra on each piece.  I was too far away to hear what he was saying most of the time, but they would go over and over some sections.  Of course, I could not tell any difference, but each time the conductor would seem to focus on portions of the work.  This made the rehearsal longer than a performance, I think.  It took about two and a half hours. 

They symphony hosted a guest pianist named Lang Lang.  I know that sounds like the name of  giant panda, but apparently he is a world renowned Chinese pianist, known not only for his virtuosity, but for his showmanship.  The latter was on display even in rehearsal.  Lang often finishes notes with a flourish.  Obviously I could tell he is tremendously talented.  Great pianists astonish me with their ability to play so many notes so fast.   

Sitting back in the third from the last row, I relaxed, allowing myself to just listen to the music.  I had forgotten how great symphonic music really is.  I went to the symphony in Denver but usually to hear pops concerts where they played hit music or Broadway show tunes.  To hear classical music played by a major symphony orchestra was a very, very nice way to spend a morning.  I will be going to more of these open rehearsals.  Next time, though, I will get there a lot earlier.