A Night at the Orpheum
We just got back from the Orpheum theater where we watched our first Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra Beethoven and Blue Jeans concert. The theater is basically just a hop, skip and a jump from our apartment. We got there an hour early to listen to a "lecture" about the concert. The lecture turned out to be a short talk given by the conductor about the pieces they were playing that night. I thought it was a great touch that more orchestras should adopt.
We had a $20 ticket and a complimentary ticket (c/o Erin's coupon book :) ) which got us pretty good seats in the second balcony. We had to climb about 4 sets of stairs to get there and when we finally got inside, I wondered if we would fall straight down onto the stage if we accidentally slipped on the stairs on the way down to our seats. Luckily, we were up in the front of the section so my fear of heights really didn't kick in.
The opening piece tonight was the Overture to Fidelio by Beethoven. I thought it was absolutely wonderful. It was fun and majestic at the same time and the orchestra was just great. Suddenly, I missed the stage and Lola and I was filled with so much emotion.
The next piece was the Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 by Beethoven. The Violin solo was played by a young girl named Karen Gomyo. It seems that she's a prodigy, getting a scholarship at Julliard at the age of 10. She plays the "Ex Foulis" Stradivarius, circa 1714! So I have finally been in the presence of a real Stradivarius and now I understand why it's held in such high esteem. It just sounds different... rich and full. And of course, she knew how to manipulate the instrument. Unfortunately though, I felt that although she was excellent technically, there wasn't much emotion in her playing. But then, she's only 22 and I'm sure she'll be incredible 5 years from now.
After the intermission, the orchestra came back and played the Peacock Variations by Zoltan Kodaly. This was my personal favorite of the night. It sounded like a jazz piece along the lines of Rhapsody in Blue. It also sounded a bit "Asian" as Neil put it... something you would relate with a Chinese movie. Next time we go to the record store I should remember to look for other stuff of Kodaly.
The last piece was The Firebird by Stravinsky. It wasn't until almost the end that I realized that I had heard this before in Fantasia 2000. It was just as wonderful as I remembered it to be. I could still see "Spring" and life just bursting forth at the end of the piece. I'm still high from it up to now.
This was definitely a good discovery. Now, when's the next concert?
We had a $20 ticket and a complimentary ticket (c/o Erin's coupon book :) ) which got us pretty good seats in the second balcony. We had to climb about 4 sets of stairs to get there and when we finally got inside, I wondered if we would fall straight down onto the stage if we accidentally slipped on the stairs on the way down to our seats. Luckily, we were up in the front of the section so my fear of heights really didn't kick in.
The opening piece tonight was the Overture to Fidelio by Beethoven. I thought it was absolutely wonderful. It was fun and majestic at the same time and the orchestra was just great. Suddenly, I missed the stage and Lola and I was filled with so much emotion.
The next piece was the Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 by Beethoven. The Violin solo was played by a young girl named Karen Gomyo. It seems that she's a prodigy, getting a scholarship at Julliard at the age of 10. She plays the "Ex Foulis" Stradivarius, circa 1714! So I have finally been in the presence of a real Stradivarius and now I understand why it's held in such high esteem. It just sounds different... rich and full. And of course, she knew how to manipulate the instrument. Unfortunately though, I felt that although she was excellent technically, there wasn't much emotion in her playing. But then, she's only 22 and I'm sure she'll be incredible 5 years from now.
After the intermission, the orchestra came back and played the Peacock Variations by Zoltan Kodaly. This was my personal favorite of the night. It sounded like a jazz piece along the lines of Rhapsody in Blue. It also sounded a bit "Asian" as Neil put it... something you would relate with a Chinese movie. Next time we go to the record store I should remember to look for other stuff of Kodaly.
The last piece was The Firebird by Stravinsky. It wasn't until almost the end that I realized that I had heard this before in Fantasia 2000. It was just as wonderful as I remembered it to be. I could still see "Spring" and life just bursting forth at the end of the piece. I'm still high from it up to now.
This was definitely a good discovery. Now, when's the next concert?
posted by Denise | 9:55 PM
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